Contact trials tech to enhance EV charging

Contact Energy has launched a pilot using innovative technology to make it easy for EV owners to charge their car when electricity demand is at its lowest.

The pilot aims to ease pressure on the national electricity grid as EV use increases and also aims to help reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

This could help EV drivers reduce the cost of charging their vehicles in the long-term, says Contact.

According to the Electric Vehicle Database’s market stats, at the end of April 2025 more than 82,500 fully electric vehicles and 37,300 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) were in use in New Zealand.

Charging an EV can increase a household’s energy use by up to 30%, says Powerswitch.

This can put a strain on the national electricity grid during periods of high energy demand, such as first thing in the morning or in the evening.

To help reduce this, Contact is piloting an EV Demand Flex programme which will use technology to determine when energy demand is low and then automatically charge customers’ EVs.

If electricity demand suddenly increases the technology will stop charging the vehicle until demand subsides, says Contact.

There are many benefits to this pilot, says Contact acting chief retail officer Michael Robertson.

“At scale, this technology would allow customers to charge their vehicles when demand is low, potentially helping them make savings on their power bill,” he says.

“It will also help ease pressure on the national grid, support New Zealand’s energy supply, and reduce reliance on energy generated by fossil fuels,” says Robertson.

“Pausing charging an EV, even for a short period of time, contributes to reducing high electricity demand, ensuring electricity goes where it is most needed.

“It’s hard to predict on any given day when there will be an increase in energy demand and that’s what makes the EV Demand Flex technology so innovative,” he says.

“Plus, our customers can rest easy knowing their EV will be charged to the level they want, ready for when they need it.”

The pilot begins on Tuesday June 3 and may run up to a year.

This will deliver valuable information about people’s charging behaviours and enable Contact to finetune the EV Flex programme, the company says.

If the pilot is successful, Contact says it will expand the programme.

For the past four years Contact has also been offering ‘Good’ time of use electricity plans to provide free power during times of low demand, such as at night or at the weekend, rewarding customers for taking pressure off the grid.

More than 130,000 Contact customers are on one of the Good Plan range, and these customers have collectively benefited from 215 million hours of free power, says Contact.