Electric Vehicle (EV) Intelligent Charging

Intelligent charging ensures that factors like your schedule, electricity prices, grid load, and your car’s state of charge (SOC) are considered simultaneously when you plug in your EV.

How It Differs from Normal Charging

With standard charging, you simply plug in your car and it charges until full or until you unplug it. Intelligent charging, however, allows you to:

  • Charge during the lowest cost or lowest carbon emission periods.
  • Automatically start and stop charging according to your preset schedule or targets.
  • Contribute to a balanced grid.

This is particularly advantageous for those using dynamic or dual-rate electricity tariffs, which offer cheaper electricity price periods.

Benefits of Intelligent Charging

1. Lower Costs Through Smart Scheduling
Charging can often be a major concern for both new and experienced EV drivers. Intelligent charging automates the scheduling process, analysing your electricity tariff to charge your car during the cheapest periods, saving you money on every charge.

2. Greener Charging
Intelligent charging can identify when renewable energy on the grid is at its highest. This ensures that your EV charges when carbon emissions are at their lowest, allowing you to maximise the environmental benefits of driving electric.

  • Got solar panels? Even better! Intelligent charging can utilise your self-generated power to charge your car, making your EV even more sustainable.

3. Convenient Scheduling
You can set a weekly schedule specifying when your EV needs to be charged to your chosen level. Once set, you no longer need to input start and stop times whenever you plug in – your schedule handles it automatically.

Balancing the Grid

Electricity demand fluctuates throughout the day. At night, when most people are asleep, demand is low. By contrast, demand spikes in the evening when people return home, cook, and use appliances. Events like the World Cup halftime—when millions of kettles are switched on—highlight significant surges in power use.

With the increasing adoption of renewable energy and electrified appliances, spreading demand on the grid is becoming increasingly important across Europe. Intelligent charging helps balance this demand, ensuring that EVs charge during periods of lower demand, which benefits the grid and reduces the risk of overloading the grid.

How to Start Charging Intelligently

To take advantage of intelligent charging, you need:

  1. An Electricity Tariff with Flexible Pricing
    These tariffs include dynamic, dual-rate, or time-of-use plans, which offers cheaper electricity during specific periods. With EV adoption on the rise, more providers are offering such tariffs across Europe. Check with your current electricity supplier to see what’s available.
  2. A Compatible App and Car or Charger
    You’ll need an app and a compatible car or charger that supports intelligent charging functionality. Once set up, you can enjoy cheaper, greener, and easier charging.

By adopting intelligent charging, you’ll save money, reduce your environmental impact, and help support the electricity grid – all whilst making EV ownership simpler and smarter.