Why it happens
Wallbox chargers (Pulsar Plus, Pulsar Max, Commander…) are managed from the Wallbox app and portal. To use all their features you link them to an account by scanning the QR code on the side. Wallbox's own help center is clear: a charger can only be added once, so no one else will be able to add it to their account.
Until the previous owner unlinks it, the charger stays on their account. They can see it, schedule it and lock it. You cannot.
Does it work in the meantime?
According to Wallbox, an installed charger charges as soon as you plug in; the app is only needed for the "smart" features: schedules, power limits, consumption data or locking. So you can usually charge, but:
- you cannot change the power or schedule it for cheap hours;
- you cannot see what you use;
- if the previous owner left auto-lock on, it may stay locked and not charge;
- and whoever has the account can still see when and how much you charge.
That last one, in your own garage, is not a detail.
What you can do
- Ask the previous owner to unlink it. It is the fastest way: in the app, open the charger → Settings → Installation options → Unlink charger (Wallbox instructions), or in the portal, Chargers → Delete. It has to be done by an admin of that account. If you bought through an estate agent or a notary, they can usually reach them.
- If they cannot be found, go to Wallbox. With the serial
number and the UID (on the sticker on the side, next to the QR code) and the
deed or contract proving the home is yours. Do it through their
help portal: if you write to
service@wallbox.com, the auto-reply says the inbox is not monitored and no case has been created. - What does not work: the app's ownership transfer tool is only for installer accounts, to hand a newly installed charger from the installer to the customer. It cannot take a charger away from a previous owner.
Our case: five days and counting
We are telling this because we are living it. A customer of ours bought a home with a 2020 Pulsar Plus linked to the previous owner, who cannot be found. We wrote to Wallbox on 22 October. On the 26th an auto-reply told us that address is not monitored. The same day we opened a case through their portal, as they asked, and they confirmed they were analysing it. As of today, 27 October, we are still waiting. When they answer we will update this page with what they ask for and how long it takes.
What if I connect it to another platform over OCPP?
Wallbox chargers speak OCPP, the open standard, and can be connected to another platform: we have a step-by-step guide. But the OCPP setting lives inside the Wallbox app and portal. To reach it you need the charger on your account. So it is not a shortcut: it has to be released first, and we cannot get around that either.
This is the less known side of lock-in. It is not enough for the hardware to speak an open standard. If you need an account in the manufacturer's cloud to configure it, the charger belongs to whoever holds that account.
How we solve it at askacharge.com
Because this will keep happening, at askacharge.com it does not depend on someone answering an email. It is a procedure in the panel, under Transfers, with two paths:
- If the previous owner is around: from their panel they pick the charger and your email. You get a link, accept it with your account and the charger moves to yours right away.
- If they cannot be found: you enter the charger's identifier and prove you are standing at it. We ask you to plug and unplug the cable within a three-minute window, twice, and we see it arrive from the charger itself. Then we notify the owner, who has 15 days to object. If they do not, the charger moves to your account. If they do, a person reviews it and asks you both for whatever is needed.
Either way nothing has to change on the charger: it keeps connecting as always and the server routes it to the new account. The charging and payment history stays with the previous owner, because it is theirs, and you start from scratch. Whoever claims it does not see who owned the charger or where it was registered.
The limit, plainly: the check needs the charger to be connected to askacharge.com. With a Wallbox like our customer's, Wallbox has to release it first, because its OCPP setting lives in the manufacturer's cloud. That step we cannot take for anyone.
Before you sign the purchase
- Ask whether the charger is linked to a manufacturer account (Wallbox, Easee, Zaptec, Tesla… almost all use one).
- Ask the seller to unlink it before signing, and check it yourself: scan the QR code with your app and see if it lets you add it.
- If that cannot happen before, put the seller's commitment to unlink it in the contract.
- Also ask for the charger's invoice and the electrical installation certificate: you will need them for the warranty and when you change energy supplier.
If you are installing a new charger
Think about the day you sell the house, or the day the manufacturer changes its terms. Ask in writing whether the OCPP server address can be changed from the charger itself, without an account in the manufacturer's cloud. If the answer is yes, the charger passes to the next owner the way a socket does.
Your charger manufacturer has shut down: how to take back control