@JustinAtSense , awesome that something is in the works! Looking forward to testing it out…
Going to merge these items now, thanks!
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2 years later…
Significant Energy Change reports continue to be useless if you own an electric car.
I’m positive the % of EV ownership is up. Please fix these alerts / reports.
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I don’t have a traditional EV, but my sister has one. I asked her if I could plug her car in when she came to visit me. I wanted to experience for myself what charging an EV would look like from the energy monitoring perspective.
If you see something anomalous in the above graph at week 9, you will know how I categorized the energy usage by my sister’s EV. I did get a notification from Sense for the day. Charging was done using 110V and monitored using a Kasa smart plug: 6.4 kWh was applied to the car. This Kasa plug is identified in Sense as an electric vehicle under What’s Plugged In.
Operating an EV is efficient: energy for this test day cost about $1 where I live. I asked my sister how many miles she gets per kWh, but she didn’t know (her husband keeps track of such things). Supposing she gets 4 miles per kWh, then she could drive 25 miles on that amount of energy. Most gasoline cars need about a gallon of fuel to travel that far, and a gallon of gas goes for $3 or $4 these days.
Based on my one-day test, it makes economic sense to run an EV if you have one. However, the associated alert from Sense about energy usage is of no benefit when the only thing out of the ordinary was EV charging. Thus, I have added my support to this wish list item.
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I’m reaching out today about a small issue with the power usage alerts for EV owners that I believe could be easily addressed and have a significant impact on their experience.
As you know, many EV owners are excited about making the switch to a more sustainable form of transportation. However, one concern they often face is understanding their electricity usage and potential charging costs. Your app’s power monitoring alerts play a crucial role in providing this information.
However, I’ve noticed that the current alert system triggers when my electricity usage spikes by 7000W, which coincides with charging my EV. While this spike is completely normal and expected, it can be quite alarming for first-time EV owners.
Imagine someone who’s just transitioned to an EV and sees this large power usage alert. It could lead to unnecessary worry or confusion about whether something is wrong with their car or charging system.
I believe a simple fix could be to:
- Adjust the alert threshold for known EV charging patterns to avoid triggering unnecessary alarms.
- Provide a brief explanation alongside the alert that clarifies the spike is likely due to EV charging and is completely normal.
These small changes could go a long way in providing EV owners with a more user-friendly and stress-free experience, while still ensuring they have access to essential information about their power usage.
I understand your team is likely busy with numerous priorities, but I truly believe that addressing this small issue could make a big difference for a growing community of EV owners who rely on your app.
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Added to this:
compare your results only to other sense monitors that have detected EV charging.
But in general:
Sense’s detection is unreliable.
Look at my current situation:
Doesn’t show EV charging
but it shows on the sideline:
When I go to the devices info and choose my EV:
It recognized I started charging my EV at just before 1PM.
The usage is allocated to charging my EV, but the main screen says “OTHER”
And when I click on “OTHER”
…
The smart meter from Itron which includes Sense technology is called Riva. Their brochure (https://www.itron.com/-/media/feature/products/documents/brochure/itron-distributed-intelligence-brochure.pdf)
has the figure below. I was curious about their EV Awareness feature, whether it be the same or different than device-level detection in Sense.
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