Smart charging reduces charging costs and is good for the environment

Imagine an app that could know when the electricity price is at its lowest, so you could charge your electric car when there are the most savings to be made.

Charging an electric car at home is basically very simple, and you generally do it when you have finished for the day. Then you plug the car into the charger, and it stays there until you go to work again in the morning. With a full battery, you are then ready for the next day’s demands. 

The disadvantage of such “traditional” charging is that the charging starts the moment you plug in the car. For many people, this will be when they get home from work, a time of day when electricity prices are usually at their highest. 

Avoid price spikes with smart charging 

With smart charging, the electricity price for the next 24 hours can be retrieved, so that the car can be charged outside the peaks. This means that charging costs can be reduced considerably. 

CHARGE WHEN THE PRICE OF ELECTRICITY IS LOW: The graph illustrates when electric car owners charge their car within a week. Red is where most people start charging their electric car – usually at 4 pm after work. Green shows how smart charging would charge your electric car for you, usually during the night. 

“It is almost impossible to calculate exactly how much charging costs can be reduced, but based on an average driver in Norway with a regular electric car and a home charger, the savings can be around 20 per cent,” says Kristina Hoff Wanderås from Fortum’s business development team. 

Save money – without lifting a finger 

A lot has happened in the electricity market in recent years, with the rollout of smart meters (AMS) and hourly pricing of electricity. With an hourly electricity contract, you can now move your electricity consumption to the hours when it is cheaper. 

“The fact that we have access to so much good data and insight means that smart charging can really help to reduce your electricity bill,” says Wanderås. 

The best thing about smart charging is that the whole process is fully automated. 

“The smart charging is completely automatic; all you have to do is connect the app and the car. That means you can reduce your charging costs even if you don’t have a smart charging box,” she concludes. 

Smart charging also helps to reduce the load on the electricity grid, which could in turn mean that Norway does not need to build as much new electricity infrastructure. So it is not just good for your wallet, but also good for the planet and the environment.