By combining smart charging stations and AMS metrics with advanced cloud services, Zaptec has made it possible to charge your electric car faster while also making it cheaper.
Zaptec is a Norwegian technology company that develops and manufactures charging stations and software for charging electric cars. The latest innovation from the company is a plug that customers can connect to the electricity meter in their homes.
With the arrival of new electricity meters in Norwegian homes, we spotted the opportunity to offer our customers even smarter charging for their electric cars. We started by scouring the market – but we couldn’t find any products that satisfied our requirements. That’s why we started to develop our own smart plug that could be connected to the HAN port (Home Area Network) on an electricity meter, says Mr. Knut Braut, CTO at Zaptec.
Automatic adjustment of charging speed
The Zaptec APM (Automatic Power Management) smart plug allows owners of the Zaptec HOME charger to obtain information about electricity use in their own homes. It reports the AMS metrics in real-time to Zaptec’s cloud services, where in turn advanced algorithms control the charging stations. Charging is automatically adjusted according to the levels of electricity use in the home, and more current is assigned to charging the car when the house is using less – and vice versa.
Zaptec APM allows you to install a more powerful charging rate since the charging station only delivers more current when it is actually available. This means you can charge the car as quickly as possible without risking that the main fuse blows,’ says Braut.
Mr. Braut also emphasises the charging speed.
There are several factors that have an impact on charging speed, but in the right conditions you can achieve charging that is 2–6 times faster than using traditional charging stations.’
Cheaper electric car charging
The smart plug also allows you to choose what time the next day you would like your car to be charged by. The charging station then automatically finds the cheapest time to start charging.
Our customers are thrilled with the product. They get to charge their cars when electricity is cheapest, and the charging speed is controlled automatically so that they no longer have to worry about the fuse blowing. All this happens by itself without them having to give it a second thought,’ Mr. Braut explains.
However, the biggest cost saving for customers will be made in the transition from current energy-based billing to new tariffs that bill based on effect, according to Braut.
By letting Zaptec APM limit the charging speed, and therefore the maximum level of use for the house as a whole, you may potentially be able to save several thousand kroner a year.’
Read also: How much does it cost to charge an electric car?
Easy installation
Zaptec APM is used in combination with the home charger Zaptec HOME. Customers can easily order the smart plug by taking our a PREMIUM subscription (NOK 39/month, only available in Norway) online via the Zaptec Portal. The smart plug will be shipped to customers free of charge, and they will then be able to install it themselves on the electricity meter in their home.
In order to make use of all the features offered by Zaptec APM, the HAN port on the AMS electricity meter has to be opened. Customers have to contact their own electricity network provider to open their HAN port.
