Smart charging app for VW

[Otto]

Hi there!

Me and my co-founder developed a smart charging app for Tesla last year. The app charges your car at times when there is most wind and solar power, saving you ~20$/month and 15% CO2 emissions.

We didn't include VW support, since it didn't have an open API and the market share was small. However, both these things seem to have changed now. Even better, the VW API supports setting the charge current too. That means we could also offer to charge only when you have surplus production from your own solar panels. Again, this saves CO2 emissions and reduces energy bills in many countries.

My question: are there any VW drivers who are open to exploring the technical possibilities with us for VW smart charging? Would help us a lot!

 

[somethingcool]

I'm up for helping but don't have solar and don't use time of use electricity billing. I also don't drive/charge a whole lot and use 120v charging almost exclusively. So probably not the best candidate, but I am quite technical. Let me know if you don't have any more appropriate volunteers.

 

[f1geek]

Is a smart meter required for this to work?

 

[Otto]

Hi f1geek, at this point a smart meter is not required. We're now only interested in starting and stopping charging in the car. Would you be interested in helping us out?

 

[f1geek]

I live in a city that has its own utility. I have no option but to buy electricity from my city utility. Additionally, I do not have a smart meter and my city bills me using a two tiered rate plan with under ~300 kWh a month for tier 1 and above ~300 kWh for tier 2. How would I save money with your system?

 

[Otto]

For the app above, you wouldn't. However, do you happen to have solar panels? If you pay tax on the electricity you take from the grid, but don't get tax in return when you feed electricity to the grid, smart charging could also be beneficial for you!

 

[f1geek]

I don’t have solar panels. Thanks. Best of luck!