Observant EV Owners Noticed Frequent Pings
Several people posting on Facebook and writing to the EV Club who have registered for the charging incentives via telematics noticed that their vehicles were being status-checked every 30 minutes. That is excessive from both a power consumption (it uses a modicum of power or battery drain) and data privacy perspective. And it had been doing this 24/7 since the program started. This only applies to Eversource customers as UI uses a different external vendor.
Eversource advised the EV Club that they are diminishing the frequency to once per hour, which still sounds like a lot, but is an improvement, and after the demand/response period ends after September, they will stop it altogether. They are testing alternatives and will roll out a new solution for 2023. There will also be a new managed charging program, likely with a two-tier option for enrollment. We will update those details as we get closer to the new year.
Thank you to those who called this out and supplied data.