New app helps charge Tesla EVs when electricity is greener and cheaper

• With its app already present in Belgium and the Netherlands, start-up Jedlix is introducing smart charging in France. The solution enables Tesla drivers to optimize their charging strategy.

Dutch start-up Jedlix is offering a “smart”, flexible charging service for Tesla electric vehicle (EV) drivers. The smartphone app informs drivers when electricity is ‘greenest’ by monitoring periods in the territory concerned when renewable energy generation is at its peak and electricity consumption is lowest.

Drivers can charge when electricity is cheapest and can add their own criteria for determining optimal charging times by using the app, which was developed by a subsidiary of Dutch gas company Eneco.

With thousands of customers using the app already in the Netherlands and Belgium, Jedlix has launched in France with the help of renewable energy suppliers ekWateur and Plüm Énergie and solar developer GreenYellow Energie. The partner companies offer Jedlix users a reward for each kilowatt-hour of electric vehicle (EV) charge driven through the app with ekWateur stating the rewards reduce the cost of charging by at least 20%.

Grid balancing

“You receive a transfer [of] between €5 and €30 depending on the volume of energy that could be loaded intelligently over the month,” ekWateur said.

Plüm Énergie co-founder and president Vincent Maillart said: “Thanks to the partnership between Jedlix and Plüm Énergie, owners of electric vehicles can now optimize their consumption, save money, benefit from the greenest electricity on the market and support the development of new renewable production sites.”

By encouraging users to charge at periods of lower electricity demand, the Jedlix app also offers grid balancing benefits.

Although only Tesla owners can benefit at present, Jedlix said it wants to expand to other marques and is working with BMW and Renault – which acquired a quarter of Jedlix in 2017 – in the Netherlands, and Jaguar in Belgium.

“Optimizing the storage capacity of electric cars is the key to the energy transition,” said Julien Tchernia, chief executive of ekWateur, who said the app will help popularize EVs in Europe.