Smart EV Charging, also known as “Managed EV Charging”, is a way of intelligently managing electric vehicle charging to help drivers avoid high energy prices and protect the energy grid from cyber attacks and technical faults.
An average user has their vehicle plugged in for 12.2 hours, but only needs 1-3 hours of charging to top up their battery.
Rather than simply plugging in and starting a charge straight away, known by some as “dumb charging”, Smart Charging will delay charging until the optimal time, either with a pre-set schedule or in real-time via an Internet connection.
This will allow the user to access the cheapest and greenest energy available, while also reducing the strain EV charging puts on the power grid.
Smart EV Charging platforms, like ev.energy, will take a number of factors into account, such as the user’s energy tariff or how energy is being produced locally, to pick the best times to charge.
For now, the regulations don’t require EV Charge Points to act on smart charging, they just need to have the functionality available. ev.energy has already been smart charging thousands of vehicles around the world since launching the ev.energy app for drivers in 2017.
Learn more about Smart Charging in our recent blog post.