8 Genius Hacks for Smarter EV Home Charging You Must Know

Are you ready to discover the smart features of your home charging station and change the way you power up your electric vehicle? Just a few simple settings in the app can noticeably cut your charging costs. Think of all the nice ways to spend that extra money, from securing an annual gym membership to taking your family on a lovely holiday. With a little more tweaking, your smart charger ensures it won't overload your home's electrical system, sparing you from power cuts. And that is just a small part of what a smart wallbox such as the go-e Charger can do. 

From harnessing solar power to managing your charging network, the tips in this blog post will not only save you money but also help you contribute to a greener planet.

Thinking about getting a home charging station for your electric car? Consider investing in a smart wallbox. The thing is, the capabilities of a wallbox vary depending on its intelligence.

A basic wallbox does the job by communicating with your car during charging and giving it the power it needs. It's simple and straightforward, but without any smart features, which save you quite some money and help you charge sustainably.

In contrast, an intelligent wallbox, like the go-e Charger, offers a host of advanced features. With a mobile app, you can control your charger from anywhere and access a range of smart functions like setting a specific price per kilowatt-hour target for your charging sessions or directing excess solar power into your car’s battery. Moreover, the load balancing feature makes charging reliable, ensuring that you do not draw too much power from the grid and experience a power outage in your home. Things like this will not only save you a pretty penny, but also make charging more energy efficient as well as convenient.

When it comes to charging your electric vehicle, there is nothing better than knowing that you are using clean, renewable and free (!) energy. As you can imagine, this advice is going to be for those who have (or plan to have) solar panels installed on the roof or somewhere near the house. You may have bought them to power a boiler, washing machine, TV and other household appliances. But on really sunny days, even when all of these appliances are working well, you may still have some energy left over. This may not be enough to charge your car battery to 100%, but you can still use it for this purpose. Otherwise, you would probably sell the excess energy back to the grid at suboptimal prices, which is not a great solution.

A smart wallbox like the go-e Charger Gemini or Gemini flex, in combination with the go-e Controller or another energy management system, takes care of this for you. It tracks surplus solar power and seamlessly transfers it to your car battery, making the most of your green energy production.

It's no secret that electricity rates can vary throughout the day. Nighttime electricity tariffs, which offer lower prices between 11:00pm and 6:00am, are the most common. To maximise your savings, consider off-peak charging. Set your wallbox to charge during times when electricity rates are lower, typically during the night or early morning. By doing so, you not only save money but also reduce the strain on the grid during peak hours. It's a win-win situation that allows you to enjoy the benefits of electric mobility without breaking the bank. 

But!

The thing is, you are able to schedule charging only if you have an intelligent wallbox such as the go-e Charger. It will take you less than a minute to adjust the necessary scheduler settings in the app.

With fluctuating energy tariffs, your electric car becomes a savvy energy consumer. It charges when the demand for electricity is at its lowest, benefiting both you and the power grid. This dynamic pricing strategy is your key to maximising efficiency and minimising costs.

If you are not familiar with dynamic energy tariffs, here’s how it works: your smart wallbox, which has your energy supplier's real-time price tracking system integrated into it, springs into action when electricity prices decrease to a specified (by you) level. So, as prices go up and down by the hour, your charger is waiting for the price to be as set by the user. In the go-e Charger app, this function is called “ECO mode.” go-e cooperates with hundreds of electricity providers, so you're likely to find yours in the list. If you haven’t, let us know and we will look into integrating it. 

You can also use the so-called “Next Trip Modus”. This means, you set a time and amount of kWh for your car to be charged without any price limitations. The task of the charger, in this case, is to select the cheapest hours for charging according to your electricity tariff until the specified number of kWh is reached within the set time limit. 

The result? You get to:

• Pay less for charging: Lower electricity prices during off-peak hours mean more savings in your pocket.
• Lighten the load: Charging during off-peak hours eases the burden on the power grid, contributing to a more stable energy infrastructure.

Off-peak hours typically coincide with the night, a time when you're enjoying sweet dreams, and your EV silently rejuvenates in the garage, ready for your next thrilling adventure. 

However, charging prices can also be low outside of these typical periods. Why is that? Because there might be an abundance of electricity generated from renewable sources like solar, wind, and hydro, which gets added to the grid. This surplus power can be purchased at a lower cost, benefiting customers and preventing waste of excess green energy.

The "kWh Limit" function is a useful feature for your financial benefit. It's perfect when you don't want to fully charge your battery. Say, you live in a hilly area and plan to recharge while going downhill. This process is also called “recuperation” - capturing energy as you coast downward. 

Simply use the "kWh Limit'' menu in the go-e Charger app to decide how much energy to charge for your upcoming trip. As you see, this function gives you more control and flexibility over EV charging.

If you've ever worried about overloading your home's electrical circuits while charging your electric car, load balancing is your solution. 

Static load balancing function, integrated in the go-e Charger, keeps an eye on your power consumption. You get to set a limit, say 7 kW, for a charger, ensuring that it doesn’t draw more electricity than your home’s circuits can handle. 

Load balancing is crucial for the times when two or more chargers are in use simultaneously or if the building's connected load is generally very low. Without it, even switching on the kettle in your house while the cars are charging can be the last straw that leads to a blackout.

The maximum limit is contingent on your specific household electricity supply. For instance, charging an electric car with 11 kW is typically feasible in Austria, but in Italy, it's often impractical due to the standard household supply being only 3 kW. In this case, it's advisable to set your limit right from the outset, when the charger is installed. No need to risk charging at 11 or even 22 kW, potentially inviting an electric blackout to your home. 

For this, you need to activate dynamic load balancing, which is possible with our go-e Charger + go-e Controller combo. This is essentially fully automated load balancing. 

What does that mean? 

The go-e Controller acts like a guide for the charging station. It intelligently adjusts power consumption based on your home's energy needs by keeping the go-e Charger informed of how much power is available at any given time. When your lights are on and appliances like a dishwasher or boiler are running, it dials down charging power. Then, it ramps up when you're fast asleep. 

To make this work, you need to tell the Charger how much electricity your home can handle. Meanwhile, the Controller can tell you how much electricity your home is using. With static load balancing, it's like having a set limit that you shouldn't go over. But with the Controller and dynamic load balancing, you can see if you can use more electricity because your appliances are not using much at that moment.

Sharing is caring, especially when it comes to charging your electric car. Many EV charging stations come equipped with RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) management systems. This feature allows you to share your charger with your neighbours while maintaining complete control and accountability. So it’s not like they just come and charge for free - you’re still the boss. 

When a person swipes their RFID chip on the charger, their charging details are added to your account, providing transparency into how much electricity each user consumes. You will basically have a ledger for your charger in your smartphone, always being able to check who's using it and how much power they're drawing. Use this technology to get closer with your neighbours and maybe even share the cost of the wallbox.