EV drivers join the equiwatt community!

If you have been keeping up to date with our previous blog posts, you will be aware we announced in August that electric vehicle (EV) charging would be added to our services with the launch of a trial for our new EV Smart charging app!

Not only are EVs one of the largest single energy consuming items at a household level but managing their charging more intelligently is also really important to the collective impact of equiwatt users in reducing peak time energy usage!

New beta EV smart charging app released

The initial input from users who joined our ‘Alpha’ trial was overwhelmingly positive and has helped to rapidly develop what EV drivers need in a smart charging service. Our new ‘Beta’ app is now available and has been developed to include much of this input and feedback.

Owners of compatible EVs who have a charger installed at home can use the app to earn rewards whenever they charge for automatically charging their car when energy is cheaper and greener. There are a couple of different ways to do that in the beta app and additional ways are to follow soon.

Join community-wide energy saving equivents

Users can join in with the rest of our community by participating in our familiar equivents - the UK’s only community-based energy saving events for EV’s. Taking part will automatically pause the charging of a connected EV for up to an hour whenever electricity is more carbon-intensive and expensive. By avoiding peak time charging, users will not only save money but also reduce their carbon footprint too!

Much like our current Smart Home app, users of our EV Smart Charging app will be rewarded with points (typically between 70-105 points depending on the power consumption of the charger and make and model of the car) for participating in an equivent. The more energy you save, the more points you will earn. These points can then be used to redeem rewards from the in-app gift store for items such as smart tech, eGift cards or even supporting charitable organisations like the World Land Trust.

As well as earning points from equivents, EV users will also earn 10 points every day by simply having their car connected to the equiwatt app, plugged in and ready to charge!

Personalise charging according to tariff rates

Users can also set up their EVs to charge according to their energy tariff. This means that if you have a time of use tariff (ToU) then you can add its details to the app and your car will charge automatically according to your energy supplier’s peak and off-peak hours. What’s more, you will be awarded 10 points for every day that your EV charges via tariffed-based charging!

Have your EV ready when you need it

As well as being able to earn rewards for participating in equivents and charging according to your tariff, our EV app will also give you full control over your charging preferences. For example, you can set a minimum battery level so that your car automatically charges (if connected) when it gets below that level. That way, your car is always ready to go when you need it!

Understand your collective impact

On top of these cost saving and CO2 friendly features, our EV smart charging app will also provide users with the opportunity to be part of and interact with the rest of our community. For example, you will soon be able to view stats on our collective energy savings and carbon reductions as well as having the opportunity to compete in our monthly leaderboard for extra points and prizes every month.

Shape the future of EV smart charging

The beta is a brilliant opportunity for EV owners out there with compatible vehicles to help us create the ultimate EV smart charging app. Feedback from our users throughout the trial will play a crucial part in helping develop new features and a great user experience. So if that sounds like something you or someone you know would be interested in getting involved in then we’d love to have you on board!

Follow this link to join our beta and find out more information!

Alternatively, if you don’t have an electric vehicle but would like to start getting rewarded for switching off your household appliances for just a few hours a week then join our community of energy savers by downloading our free app today! See the link below!