great product and thanks for bringing it to market, can I ask where Tesla have indicated they will start charging for API access?
thanks, iāll be interested to see if they make a free end user option available as it looks like my python script it going to need to come out of retirement 
I completely understand why most people fall into the ROI trap when it comes to anything solar, EV, or battery. We have to endure the mindless chatter from friends, family, and co-workers on āhow long is that going to take to pay for itselfā. And while solar systems and hot water system have a feasible return (and to much lesser degree a battery) an ROI is not the sole reason most of us purchase them. The value is in enjoying the tech, using renewable energy, maybe an monetary ROI.
ChargeHQ is similar in a lot of ways, itās great tech, it provided an amazing service and even with a small charge it will continue to do so. I know everyone has subscription fatigue, but to bail on an app over $7/month is crazy. Remember, value is measured in more ways than just monetary return.
And the ChargeHQ crew, thanks for the great app, the commenters above have posted some great feature requests above to drive more āvalueā into the sub, multi-vehicle support seems like a must do.
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Iāve done the maths and ChargeHQ saves me less than $AU7 per month, so the new charge isnāt worth it for me.
I agree, but for now, Tesla has not changed the price; it is still free for everyone. Stating that the product is no longer free because Tesla is charging for their API is a bit misleading since this is not yet the case. Once Tesla announces the price increase, it will be logical to ask users to pay for these fees.
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Another development in the UK is that one can charge your EV for 7.5p/kWh not only during the 6hour cheap rate period but whenever you plug in a compatible EV or compatible charging connector. To add to that one can export at 15p/kWh:
Outgoing Octopus | Octopus Energy
This has meant that solar only charging has been overtaken by these tariffs which is a huge challenge to compatible charging connectors that have been charging a premium for this and other USPs.
Octopus Energy the innovator of these smart tariffs is also becoming more established in other European countries and further afield.
This all ads up to pressure on your excellent hosted ChargeHQ service.
I average ~100 kWh/month of solar charging. The difference between my off-peak tariff and the FiT is about $0.10. Assuming Iād do no solar charging at all without Charge HQ, thatās A$10 of savings per month, 70% of which would go to the monthly subscription.
It looks like we will also be dropping our supscription as we have two Teslas and I donāt see that the monthly charge for two vehicles is worth it.
Iām hoping this is just a vocal minority, but Iām surprised by some the responses here.
- I wanted to point out that my savings from using ChargeHQ for the last few years are significant. Itās interesting people complain of no loyalty to them as the customer, but also donāt show any loyalty to the app that has been provided to them free for years
- My netflix subscription costs me $15 & saves me $0 per month, but I still pay it.
- I love the product, thanks for the hard work and Iām a happy paying customer.
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Hi Andrew, firstly congratulations on all the work youāve done so far. Iāve been watching testing and trialling.
I work in the telco space and have a team of software developers that work for me, so I partially understand exactly what youāre thinking is with pricing adjustment. I decided to contribute with a comment which is unusual for me as I feel that some of my firsthand experience with developing and marketing is subscription service in the telco space could be a value to you. Learnt the pricing is the key, a high price will not necessarily bring you a higher level of profit overall. I learnt that adjusting my pricing significantly resulted in a much larger number of subscribers and overall higher level of profit.
Without knowing all the details it would seem that your Proposed pricing is not ideal. I would suggest looking at other opportunities to reduce cost for example look at your data centre and hosting expenses.
In my case, Iām using a Fronius inverter with a couple of teslas but I donāt have a smart meter so your product gives me very limited functionality. Functionalities that would like to keep and I would pass small amount of money for but at $84 a year I am out.
At that sort of price point you need to Supply something of significance to a customer, a decade or two ago, for that sort of price we supplied to fax service a real phone number for that customer, phone lines, modems, Data centre and sent faxes by email. If we look at what else we can buy on the Internet for that type of money or less, we can buy a basic subscription to an accounting software package that handles most things for a business.
Iām assuming that youāre going to try and charge people through their App Store, and you have added an additional 30% to cover the cost that needs to be made by Apple or android, maybe consider some alternative payment methods, just like Spotify does. They give their away for free and then charge for a subscription elsewhere, not within the app. Happy to share with you how I do this
In addition to those considerations, you must remember that your product only exists to help people save some cents, In my case at seven dollars a month I can buy 100 kW hours of off-peak electricity and have luxury of being able to charge my car without having to use the Solar and do it at a time that perhaps suits me more.
I can offer you some help to control your telecommunications and connectivity costs and especially your hosting expenses, happy to lend your hand because I appreciate what youāve done so far.
Cheers, wishing you a very best, I hope this works out.
Feel welcome to get in touch to share some ideas
Cheers
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Thanks for you hard work. I save $7 pm using your product. I would happily contribute 20 $ , but at 70 there is no benefit.
Itās been a great app, but introducing charging at the start of the Australian winter means itās definitely not worth keeping at the moment. Maybe I will come back in the summer, but the savings for me are not worth it. I will likely just charge overnight from now on. It was great while it lasted. So long and thanks for all the fish.
A great product which I was using with my Zappi v1 in dumb mode. The monitoring and control features are great. If I didnāt have the Zappi I would subscribe, but having invested $A1,100 in my Zappi I will revert to using it.
Just paid for my monthly subscription.
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I am a CHQ early adopter and did not bother to use Tesla ācharge on solarā when it was released as I liked CHQ interface better. I have been trialling the Tesla version since you announced the new subscription. We had already discussed the Tesla threat October 2023 but I did not expect them to impose a fee as it doesnāt align with Musk policy of encouraging EV transition. I empathise with your need to monetise the excellent work you do. At that time I asked if you would consider other electrical devices connected to the home. Your core focus is EV interfaces, fair enough.
I am happy to stay connected to CHQ so you may collect my stats including time of day that I charge. This data should be useful to DNSPs concerned about EV owners charge behaviour at peak times. Your understanding of the charging quirks of multiple vehicle models should be a valuable source discovering optimised charger standards. Software equivalent to Sandy Munroās mechanical tear downs.
V2G is a huge opportunity for EV owners and DNSPs. Apparently if I had a Cyber truck in my garage my existing Tesla Gateway will manage the discharge of 11.5 kW to the grid in the same way as my excess solar does now - Powershare Home Backup.
https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/cybertruck/en_us/GUID-E2615021-AB6F-4843-8747-C90D85D94DEA.html
Techie Dani https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCYxQ93yEXA
So Tesla are going to continue to compete with your core business model. Last year we discussed HEMS which should become the future brains managing inside the meter and responding to dynamic price signals from DNSPs. Is there an opportunity for your software to include managing smart Hot water Thermostats, HVAC, pool pumps etc. to allow consumers to P2P trade? It would need a low cost edge computer - raspberry pi or Home Assistant Green. Unfortunately the Tesla Gateway may already have this capability and combined with a light version of Autobidder be able to play in the P2P market. Tesla are probably waiting for the industry and regulators to catch up.
At his latest AGM Musk mused the soon to be released HW5 to run Full Self Driving (FSD) could provide compute services when parked. Think of a supercomputer capable of processing video streams from 8 cameras into 3D models, making predictive decisions and then maneuvering the vehicle, all at 100 km/hrā¦sitting 90% of the time in garages, asleep, hanging out to eat the lunch of datacentres.
Could ChargeHQ morph into an āindependentā Computer Service Provider, aggregating growing numbers of ācomputers on wheelsā, processing local P2P transactions while embedded in the LV grid where the transactions are occurring - nil latency, not congesting the internet?
Processing Smart Road User Charges (RUC) is another service an āindependentā could provide.
Good luck. Graeme Weston
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Really happy for the CHQ team in creating a great idea and transforming that into a great product.
I have a 6kW solar system, with low electricity bills for our family (credits in summer and $50-100 in winter), I donāt charge the EV alot at home, as Iāve gotten by charging in public places.
If thereās anyone else in a similar situation to me, then they might find themselves not paying for a CHQ subscription, as well.
Good luck with the future CHQ team, this is a market niche and youāll find an equally niche market segmentā¦
$7 a month definitely makes sense for me.
My off peak electricity rate is 18.7 and feed-in tariff 5.2 cents per kWh, so a net cost of 13.5 cents when I charge my Tesla Model with solar.
If the app enables me to automatically charge 51.8 hours per month using solar, less than 2 hours a day, then Iām ahead.
Itās a no brainer.
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