Smart charge with Eco Mode

Eco Mode is a smart feature that charges your car when electricity is cheapest in the next 24 hours. It uses real-time prices from Nord Pool and your own preferences (like when you want to leave and how much energy you need) to schedule the session.

Available in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Works with all Zaptec home installations.

How to turn on Eco Mode

You can activate Eco mode in the Zaptec App (recommended) or Zaptec Portal. This will apply to all charging stations connected to your installation. 

In the Zaptec App:

Open the Zaptec App.
Find your charging station on the Dashboard.
Tap Charging Mode > Eco Mode.
Enter your usual departure time, how much energy you need (kWh), and your price zone. Remember that power usage over distance can vary by vehicles and outside temperatures.
Tap Activate Eco Mode.

Your charger's LED light will turn green to show that Eco Mode is on. Charging will start automatically when the price is lowest. If the best time to charge is right now, it starts now.

To start immediately or pause charging

Tap Start charging.
Or Pause charging.

In the Zaptec Portal

You can also activate Eco Mode in the Zaptec Portal (under Settings > Power Management), but the app is the easiest and recommended way.

Screenshot 2023-08-19 at 12.24.40.png

How Eco Mode works

Eco Mode automatically finds the cheapest time to charge your car based on your preferences and hourly electricity prices. Here's what it does:

Checks day-ahead spot prices from Nord Pool for the next 24 hours.
Calculated how much chargign time is needed.
Find the cheapest time slot to start charging.
Schedule charging so your car is ready on time.

Zone selection
Electricy prices vary by zone, so it's important to choose the correct on in the app. if you dont, Eco mode will us the default. For example, Norway has five (default NO1), Sweden has four (default SE3), Denmark two (default DK1, and Finland one (Default FI1). If you're unsure of your zone, contact your power company.

Technical description: How Eco Mode decides when to charge

Eco Mode doesn’t just pick the cheapest hour and start charging. It calculates the best possible time slot based on your input and real-time electricity prices.

Example:

You plug your car in at 18:00
You need 20kWh by 07.
Your charging speed is 5kW.

This means you need 3 hours of charging before 07.

It calculates how many hours are needed
Based on your kWh target, departure time and charging speed, Eco mode determines how many hours are needed. In this case 3 hours.
It scans hourly spot prices
Eco mode then looks at hourly spot prices from Nord Pool from the time you plug in to your set departure time.
It finds the best hours to charge
- Finds the lowest price hour in the time window (e.g., 23:00 - 00:00).
- Compares the hour before and after (e.g. 22:00-23:00, 00:00- 01:00).
- Evaluates whether those surrounding hours have similar prices. If so, it may start charging earlier. This allows Eco Mode to spread charging across multiple low-cost hours, improving price efficiency and ensuring your car is ready on time.
It repeats the comparison
It keeps comparing until your full energy requirements is covered (e.g. 5kWh) at the lowest total cost, while still finishing before your set departure time.

Quick answers about Eco mode

Does Eco Mode know my electricity price plan?
No. Eco Mode uses hourly spot-price tariffs from Nord Pool. If you're on a plan where prices vary by the hour, Eco Mode will help you take advantage of the cheapest rates. However, if you have a fixed-price plan, Eco Mode won't save you money directly, but can still help balance the grid by delaying charging.

Can I use Eco Mode with Tibber, Enegic or other smart services?

No. When Eco Mode is active, Zaptec takes full control of the charging schedule. Third-party services will be temporarily disabled. Once you disable Eco Mode, third-party services will resume control.

Does Eco Mode work with multiple Zaptec Go charging stations?

Yes. Eco Mode works with all connected chargers in your installation using manual power management (L1, L2, L3) to delay the charging start.

Does Eco Mode know my car's battery level (State of Charge - SoC)?

Not exactly. Eco mode focuses on your charging needs (like minimum energy), but it doesn't have access to your car's battery level. If your car needs more or less energy than planned, it may start earlier or potentially charge at non-optimal price hours.

Does Eco Mode factor in power grid tariffs?

No. Eco mode only looks at spot energy prices. I does not account for grid tarrifs. To mamange peak usage manually, you can limit charging power in the Zaptec App or Zaptec Portal.

Is Eco Mode available in stand-alone mode?

No. Smart features like Eco Mode are disabled in stand-alone mode.

Do Eco Mode and Zaptec Sense work together?

Technically yes, but we don’t recommend using them together.

Eco Mode charges your car during the cheapest electricity hours.
Zaptec Sense prevents your fuse from overloading by managing available power.

When used together, Zaptec Sense may block Eco Mode if there isn’t enough power available for the planned charging session. This can result in your car not being fully charged, especially when electricity is cheap, but your household is using a lot of power.

Zaptec Sense currently manages only the charger, not the rest of your home’s power usage. We’re working on improving how Eco Mode and Zaptec Sense communicate for better compatibility.

Updated 06 August 2025 10:53