Get paid for the charging you already do

It varies with the energy market, so there's no fixed amount. As a guide, based on last June's grid-market revenue a regular charger (about three eligible charges a week) would have earned around £15 a month, and a heavier charger (about five a week) around £25. The more you charge, the more you earn. Your payout is that month's revenue pool, divided across all eligible charges, times your own count, and the app always shows what last month actually paid per charge, plus your live count.

Yes, and that's where the money comes from. With smart charging on, you plug in and set when you need the car ready. ev.energy picks the cheapest, best-paying hours in between, and your car is charged by your ready time. Need it sooner? Tap Boost in the app to charge right away. A Boost charges immediately instead of at the best-paid hours, so that one session won't earn, but you're always free to use it. Smart charging doesn't need to be on all the time, either, you're a member regardless, you just earn on the sessions you let ev.energy time for you.

A smart session of 7 kWh or more: a charge you let ev.energy time for you, with smart charging on. One counts per day, so up to 31 in a month. A manual Boost (charge now) doesn't count, because ev.energy didn't get to time it.

Not while your supplier controls your car's charging: they're already selling that flexibility, so ev.energy can't sell it again for you. The excluded tariffs are Intelligent Octopus Go, Octopus Intelligent Drive Pack, OVO Charge Anytime, E.on Next Drive Smart, Scottish Power EV Optimise and British Gas Free Charge. Any other tariff, with any supplier, is fine. If one of these is you, you can still smart charge with the standard ev.energy app, you just won't earn through this programme.

Yes. Your payout is based on measured charging, and a smart meter is how it gets measured, so you need one installed before you can take part. You don't need to be on half-hourly settlement (HHS), which some other schemes require: any working smart meter is fine, and if HHS ruled you out elsewhere it won't here. If you don't have one yet, your energy supplier can usually install one.

ev.energy connects to your car or your charger to manage the charging, so it needs to be a make we work with. That covers most major EV makes and home charger brands, from Tesla, BMW and VW to Easee, Wallbox and more. If yours is on the list, there's nothing to buy. Home charging only; public and workplace charging don't count.

By PayPal, monthly. Add your PayPal details in the ev.energy app so we can pay you. Your payout for a given month lands once the energy market settles, which takes time, so it can arrive up to two months after the month you earned in (for example, charges made in August are paid by the end of October).

No. It's free to join, there's nothing to buy, and there's no subscription. Payouts only ever come from revenue the market has already paid, so there's no clawback, no penalty and no fee. The worst case is a quiet market month where each charge pays less than usual: you still earn, and you can never end up behind. ev.energy takes its share from the same grid-market revenue, so we only make money when your charging does.

Yes. Refer another driver from the ev.energy app. When they complete their first eligible charge, you each get £25, a fixed amount, paid at the start of the following month. (Your charging payouts follow the market and arrive later; the referral is separate.)