A household buys a tethered charger with a five metre cable because it is convenient. Two years later they change to a car with the socket on the other side, park a second vehicle on the drive, and the cable no longer reaches either of them.
The unit works perfectly. It is simply attached to a decision made when the driveway looked different.
The decision in one line
Tethered means picking up an attached cable. Untethered means fetching a cable from the boot. Everything else follows from how somebody actually wants their evening to go.
When tethered is right
One car, a fixed parking position, a household that wants the simplest possible routine, anybody who dislikes handling cables, and drivers with reduced mobility for whom lifting a cable from a boot is a real obstacle.
When untethered is right
Two cars, changing vehicles, different connector types, a preference for a tidier wall, a position where a hanging cable would be exposed, and anybody who expects their circumstances to change.
Explain the cable length issue
Tethered units come in fixed lengths and the choice is permanent. Measuring from the unit to the socket in the real parking position, with slack, is what prevents the problem entirely.
Explain the connector question
That vehicles differ and a tethered cable commits to one type. For most current cars this is straightforward, and it still deserves a sentence, which is the ground in charger compatibility and cable questions before install.
Explain the storage question
Where a tethered cable lives when not in use, whether the unit has a holster and what happens to a cable left on the ground. It affects how the installation looks and how long the cable lasts.
Explain the theft and damage point
An untethered unit has nothing to steal and nothing exposed. A tethered cable is outside permanently. It is a minor consideration and customers ask about it.
Explain the cost difference
Usually modest, with the cable included in one and bought separately in the other. Present both totals so the comparison is real.
Explain the appearance
Untethered units are smaller and tidier on a wall. For a front elevation that matters to the household, it is a legitimate reason to choose one.
Ask who will use it daily
Somebody carrying shopping and a child, in the rain, every evening for ten years. That person usually wants tethered, and asking the question settles it faster than any specification.
Ask whether a second car is likely
Households frequently add a second electric car within a few years. It is worth asking now rather than replacing a unit later.
Explain that it cannot be changed cheaply
Switching means a new unit. Saying so before installation turns a casual choice into a considered one, as with any decision that is easy now and expensive later, like warranty versus independent repair decisions.
Capture the parking position first
Because the answer depends on it, which is the checklist in cable route and parking questions installers must ask.
Answer the question when it is asked
People research units in the evening and want a plain explanation rather than a specification sheet, delivered readably, as in streaming replies and why modern chatbots type word by word.
Getting started
Publish both options with the trade offs, cable lengths and both totals, then capture the parking position at any hour. SpideyChat for electricians answers from your published pages, plans are on the pricing page, and the chatbot ROI calculator works through the numbers.