RheinEnergie AG and The Mobility House Energy are continuing their partnership in the field of smart charging solutions for electric vehicles. The two companies have initially extended their cooperation through the end of 2028. Following a pilot phase lasting around one year, the partnership is now entering the commercial phase. At its heart is ChargeFlex, the jointly developed EV electricity tariff that allows residential customers to charge their electric vehicles when electricity is inexpensive and available in abundance.
How customers benefit from ChargeFlex
ChargeFlex allows customers to charge their vehicles flexibly at times when demand is low and large amounts of renewable electricity are available in the grid. An app controls the charging process automatically, meaning customers do not need to monitor fluctuating wholesale electricity prices themselves.
The electricity rate and base charge are guaranteed for twelve months. Customers receive a bonus of 10 cents for every kilowatt-hour charged smartly, which is credited against their annual bill. Customers who smart-charge 2,500 kilowatt-hours per year, for example—equivalent to a driving distance of around 15,000 kilometres—receive a bonus of approximately €250. The “Charge Now” option remains available at any time at the standard guaranteed rate, and the tariff is also compatible with photovoltaic systems.
"By extending our partnership, we are continuing to pursue flexible, customer-focused solutions for electric mobility. Together with The Mobility House Energy, we offer a tariff that provides our customers with a clear financial benefit while also helping to reduce pressure on the electricity grid."
Jörg Peine,
Head of B2C Commodity, RheinEnergie
"Our partnership with RheinEnergie demonstrates how the energy sector and our technology can work successfully together. We are already making the flexibility of electric vehicles available to customers and the energy system today—while also creating important foundations for the next step: Vehicle-to-Grid."
Marcus Fendt,
Managing Director, The Mobility House Energy
Clearly defined roles for both partners
Both companies contribute their respective strengths to the partnership. The Mobility House Energy provides the technology that connects the energy and automotive sectors, including the smart charging logic, the commercialisation of flexibility and the calculation of customer bonuses.
The Mobility House Energy aggregates the charging flexibility of connected electric vehicles into a virtual power plant and markets it on energy and power markets. On this basis, charging processes are shifted to favourable time windows and the corresponding bonus amounts are calculated.
As a regionally rooted energy provider with nationwide operations, RheinEnergie is responsible for sales, customer relationships and the marketing of the tariff. Both partners jointly operate and further develop the product. Through a bonus system, customers participate directly in the revenues generated by flexible charging.
ChargeFlex is based on FlexConnect Smart, The Mobility House Energy’s white-label solution for smart EV electricity tariffs. The solution was jointly tailored to RheinEnergie’s specific tariff model.
Good for customers’ wallets and good for the electricity grid
In addition to generating financial benefits for customers, flexible charging also helps reduce pressure on the electricity grid and improve the integration of renewable energy. During the day, wind and solar power are often available in abundance while demand is low. In the evening, demand rises as electricity generation falls. This is precisely where ChargeFlex comes in: by shifting charging processes to favourable time windows, these fluctuations can be balanced more effectively.
The smart charging technology already used by ChargeFlex also creates important foundations for the next stage of development: bidirectional charging. With Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), electric vehicles will not only be able to charge flexibly in the future, but also feed electricity back into the grid when required. This will allow them to make an even greater contribution to integrating renewable energy and stabilising the electricity system. Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) also makes it possible to use the energy stored in the vehicle battery within the customer’s own home.
By extending the partnership through the end of 2028, the two companies are laying the foundations for further scaling the business model and developing additional applications related to the commercialisation of flexibility and cross-sector energy solutions.