In this article, you can learn more about what Eco Mode is, how it works and how to activate it.
What is Eco Mode?
Eco Mode is a smart charge solution that is included in all home installations. The term “Eco Mode” stands for the chargers economical mode. When enabled, Eco Mode will prioritize charging based on the energy cost and the configured energy requirements. Just enter your usual departure time and how much energy you need at the given time - Eco Mode will do the rest. Regardless of which supplier with a spot price agreement you have, the estimated financial savings is 15-20%.
In addition to the set departure time and minimum energy (kWh), Eco Mode will use the spot price in your delivery area to determine the cheapest hours.
The data source for this feature is day-ahead spot from Nord Pool. Each day Zaptec Go will collect prices for the coming 24-hour period making the data reference real-time and more accurate for the customer.
Nord Pool day-ahead varies depending on the different price zones. Norway has five price zones, Sweden four, Denmark two, and Finland has one. In Zaptec App you can choose the exact price zone where the charger is located. Depending on the country, NO1, SE3, DK1, and FI1 will be selected as default if the customer does not log in to the Zaptec Portal to select the specific price zone.
☝️If you're not sure which delivery area the installation is located, please contact your power company.
As most private customers in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland have spot tariffs, Eco Mode is only available in these countries. If the customer has fixed prices (same rate irrespective of the time of day), Eco Mode will not provide any financial benefit, just a delayed charging start. All though it would save capacity for everybody else, and the electric grid, and that is why we would recommend activating Eco Mode even if you have a flat tariff.
Activate Eco Mode
You can activate Eco Mode in the Zaptec App. This will affect all charging stations connected to your installation.
- In the App; Find your installation under Chargers, click on Zaptec Services, and select Eco Mode
- Enter your usual departure time, how much energy (kWh) you need, and your price zone
- Click on the Activate button
- The next time you start charging the charger should light up green
☝️ Remember that power usage on distance can vary by vehicles and outside temperatures.
Start and stop charging with Eco Mode
You can change the details for your consumption as often as you like. For example, if your mileage deviates from your settings on certain days, you can easily deactivate Eco Mode for a single charging session in the app.
If you want to start a session before the scheduled time you can press the "Start charging" button under Home in the app. To pause/stop a session, press the "Pause charging" button.
Technical information
When Eco Mode is enabled the start time for charging is based on; 1. the customers preferred configurations and 2. energy cost. In other words, when you plug in your EV, the charger automatically sends important data so Eco Mode can optimize charging.
Let's simulate a session manually with a charging speed of 5kWh.
- Based on the customers preferred configurations, Eco Mode first estimates how many hours are needed to achieve the desired effect.
- It then finds the cheapest hour between the time the car is plugged in and the departure time set by the user. The cheapest hour will be the starting point for charging. In this example, 5kWh is now planned. E.g 11:00 pm to 11:59 pm.
- Thereafter Eco Mode will start comparing the energy price on each "side" of the planned hour. Here; 10:00 pm and 1:00 am. It will always choose the cheaper option.
Note! If the price is the same before and after the planned hour, we will always choose the left side (Which could mean an earlier start time. - This procedure will repeat until the desired energy (kWh) is planned and achieved.
Eco Mode + Zaptec Sense
The two services, Zaptec Sense and Eco Mode can be active simultaneously in a Home installation.
When used together, Sense will ensure that the fuse is not overloaded, while Eco-Mode will ensure that the charger activates charging when it is cheapest.
This does however assume that there is available capacity during the scheduled charging session.
If Sense detects during the same period that there is no available capacity for charging, it will block Eco Mode charging completely or partially. Resulting in the car not reaching full charge within the specified time.
This issue is most relevant on days when the electricity price is low while household consumption is high. Most days, electricity prices are high in the morning and afternoon when private consumption is high and Eco Mode charging does not take place. Similarly, electricity prices are usually low overnight when there is usually plenty of available capacity on the main fuse, making Eco Mode charging easy with available power.
Q&A
Does Eco Mode consider the battery level of the car? (State of Charge (SoC)).
No. the charger or Eco Mode doesn't know the exact SoC, and will therefore ignore the actual charge of the battery. This can lead to some confusion when:
- The car needs less or more kWh than the Minimum energy is set to.
- If the car demands less than minimum energy, the session will be done at the beginning of Eco Mode plan. Potentially charging on non-optimal price hours.
- If the car demands more than the minimum energy, the session will continue past the Eco Mode plan until the battery is 100% full. Charging will be done after the end of the EcoMode plan. Potentially charging on non-optimal price hours.
Are the power grid tariffs considered when using Eco Mode?
No, the power grid tariffs are not taken into account with this feature. If you wish to cut down on your peak demand usage we recommend adjusting the available charge current so that the effect (kW) is limited. At this time you cannot adjust the max current through the Zaptec App. Please contact us for further assistance.
Can I use Eco Mode with a third party? E.g Tibber or Enegic ?
No. Zaptec needs to control the installation fully for Eco Mode to behave as expected.
If you enable Eco Mode it is no longer possible to update the available current using the public API.
Is Eco Mode available when the charger is set to Stand Alone Mode?
No. None of the smart functions will work in Stand Alone.