How the Hive app transforms home charging

Put simply, home charging is the easiest and most efficient way to charge an electric car. Just pull up on your driveway, plug in and charge your EV when it’s not being used, and you can start your next journey with the maximum range. No waiting around. No fiddling with payment cards. Just simple cost-effective charging on your doorstep.

Plug in overnight when renewable energy is more readily available and EV dedicated energy tariffs are cheapest, so you could cut your running costs and your impact on the environment even more.

But what if you want to get even smarter: using your time even more wisely, and saving even more money? That’s where the Hive EV Charging smartphone app comes in. Utilising all of its extensive experience from the world of intelligent in-home technology, Hive has created an ultra-intuitive smartphone app that works intelligently with the Alfen home charger – putting you in the driving seat, wherever you are.

So, whether you’re relaxing at home on the sofa, at work, or out with friends, you can control your charging time and charging costs remotely from anywhere. Here’s how it works.

Learn more about Hive EV Charging

Putting you in control

How we drive and when we drive varies from person to person. So, too, does the way we charge and when we charge our electric cars. That’s why the Hive EV Charging app has been designed to make it easier than ever to customise your home EV charging – letting you top-up how you want and when you want, with the flexibility to chop and change as needed.

The Hive EV Charging app’s ‘Plug & Play’ setting is the simple choice, providing a quick-fire option for everyday charging, especially when you’re busy. Simply park up, plug-in and tap the app to charge.

The app lets you see the real-time costs of your EV charging so that you can instantly pinpoint and avoid charging during more expensive peak-time periods – helping you to avoid any nasty unexpected surprises on your next home energy bill.

The app will also automatically communicate with your Alfen smart home wall charger – either stopping the charge automatically when your electric car’s battery is full, or, you can manually check your charging status and end the session early as and when you have enough charge for your next journey.

Get better informed; cut your costs

If you want to be even smarter with your charging – topping up your electric car’s battery in the most time-efficient way at the most cost-effective prices – that’s where the Hive EV Charging app’s in-depth charging history and custom schedule comes in.

Via the Hive app’s EV Charging History section you can keep on top of exactly how much you have charged and how much it has cost – including how much it’s costing you by day, by week or by year, in kWh or pounds and pence, or whether you’re doing more of your charging during peak or off-peak times. As a result, you can spot patterns where you’re either saving more or spending more, helping you make easy changes in your charging that can help you to cut your costs if you have a dedicated EV friendly tariff.

You can then create a custom schedule that lets you do more of your charging during cheaper off-peak periods. Simply plug your car in, and the Hive EV Charging app works with the smart charger to activate or de-activate your charging session at the appropriate times.

If you’re on a specific time-of-use tariff or EV friendly overnight tariff, the Hive app will seamlessly synchronise with your specific plan and automatically charge your car when it’s cheapest. The Hive EV Charging app and Alfen smart home charger works with most major UK energy tariffs – including specialist EV plans. Should you need to switch tariffs at any point, with just a few taps of the app you can shift from one plan to another, saving you time, money and stress.

Working with your home devices

As well as helping you be more efficient and save money on your home EV charging, the Hive EV Charging app also lets you control other smart technology within the Hive home energy ecosystem, the award-winning Active Heating Thermostat and Hive Smart TRV.

Just like Hive EV charging, the Hive app lets you turn your heating up, down, on or off remotely wherever you are, as well as setting custom schedules and even notifications if your heating is left on when you leave the house. Working in conjunction with Hive’s Active Heating Thermostat, it could save you up to £311* per year by never heating an empty home.

Taking things one step further, the addition of the Hive Radiator Valve means you’ll never have to heat a room you aren’t using again. Paired with the Hive home app, you’ll be able to manage your heating room by room, keeping things cool in the kitchen and cosy in the living room as needed. Complete control, from the same app that you use to charge your electric car. Now that’s smart thinking.

The future of smart charging in your hands

If that wasn’t enough, Hive is already thinking about – and developing ways – to make home EV charging even easier, even more efficient and even smarter in the future. Leading the way is the Hive SmartCharge Saver trial which uses ‘demand side response’ technology.

Put simply, ‘demand side response’ is a way to help ease pressure on the grid when demand is at its highest, while simultaneously providing you with the greatest return from each home charging session.

Using the Hive app, Hive EV Charging, an applicable home energy tariff and Smart Meter you’ll soon be able to schedule your top-ups at the most cost-efficient and energy efficient times of the day. The optimised scheduling system within the app will then work with your provider to find the charging sweet spot over a set number of hours.

So, however, and whenever you choose to charge, the Hive EV Charging app will help you manage your costs and save you time, every time.

Be one of the first to test out Hive’s SmartCharge Saver add-on

^[*] Savings based on an average annual energy consumption of 10,578 kWh at (7p per kWh). Carbon saved per year: 488.2 Kg CO2e (0.184kg of CO2e per kWh). Actual savings will vary depending on individual circumstances.