This is how much it costs to charge your EV at home – and how to reduce costs

The fact that electricity prices have skyrocketed has hardly escaped anyone. But is there anything you as an electric vehicle owner can do to keep the costs of home charging down? The answer is undoubtedly yes. “The important thing is to charge when electricity is cheap and to optimize charging during that period,” says Qasim Hanif, Product Manager for DEFA’s new charging station, DEFA Power.

There are several advantages to charging the car at home. With your charging station, you pay a lower price per kilowatt hour than you do at a public charging station, you do not have to queue for charging points and you can easily charge the car overnight. But how much does it cost me?

Firstly, it depends on your electricity contract. The electricity price you pay depends on, among other things, where you live, but mainly on what agreement you have with your electricity provider. To influence the electricity bill as much as possible, more and more people choose hourly rate charging.

Secondly, it depends on what time of day you charge. This assumes that you have an hourly rate charge. Electricity is most expensive when most people consume power. Usually between 7 am and 10 am and between 5 pm and 10 pm. When you charge has a big impact on your costs.

Thirdly, it depends on what power you’re charging. On your electricity bill, you have a consumption section and grid tariffs. You can keep the power supply down by adjusting the power down when charging. In this way, you avoid costly power peaks.

5 tips for cheaper charging

Driving on electricity is considerably cheaper than driving on petrol or diesel. But given today’s electricity prices combined with interest rates and inflation, many EV owners want to do what they can to charge as cheaply as possible.

There are several things you can do to reduce your charging costs:

1) Negotiate with the electricity company and choose the right type of contract.

Just as you negotiate with the bank about interest rates, it may be possible to negotiate with the electricity company. Compare prices between several companies. For many EV owners, hourly rate charging is beneficial.

2) Choose the right charging station

To be able to charge as cheaply as possible, you need to choose a charging station that provides maximum output without any power loss.

3) Charge when electricity is cheapest.

If you have a DEFA Power charging station, use the PowerSmart function in the DEFA Power app. The app retrieves daily spot prices from Nord Pool, so you know what it costs to charge today. You can decide how much you want to reduce your charging during peak time, and you can choose to pause charging when electricity is at its most expensive.

Product Manager Qasim Hanif explains:

“In the last couple of years, the demand for this type of feature has increased significantly. New EV owners, who are used to filling up with petrol or diesel, will change their behavior and get used to a completely new way of re-fueling. Suddenly, you charge your car overnight when you get home from work. What many people want is a function that tailors their charging so that they don’t have to think about price peaks and electricity prices. Others want to be able to control this manually, but the important thing is that it is possible and that it’s simple. Everyone wants a stress-free charging experience.”

Of all the things you can do to reduce your charging costs, the PowerSmart feature is the one that makes the biggest difference.”

4) Charge at lower power.

If you have plenty of time, you save money by reducing the power level and thus avoiding power peaks.  For those of you who have a DEFA Power, you can easily set this up in the Power app.

5) Maintain the car’s battery to extend its life and reduce the frequency of charging.

Follow your car manufacturer’s recommendations for battery maintenance.

By only charging as much as you need, you can keep costs down because you can choose to only charge when the prices are at their lowest. If you have a DEFA Power, you can easily set this up with the PowerSmart function.

Another tip for a cheaper EV life is to optimize the driving style to reduce energy consumption. Driving at a lower and steady speed and avoiding hard acceleration and braking can significantly reduce electricity consumption. To reduce your home energy consumption in general, solar panels and energy-efficient lamps are other examples of good investments.

Read more about DEFA Power.

Read about the DEFA Power app.