Optiwatt: Get Paid to Charge Your Tesla Says Developer

A new web app was released Tuesday, called Optiwatt, which includes an electric vehicle (EV) charging algorithm that claims to charge your Tesla during periods of negative electricity rates, according to the developers.

Optiwatt includes a web browser app, plus graph and real-time tracked data about charging habits, which are to allow Tesla owners to actually make money charging their EVs.

“Optiwatt, www.getoptiwatt.com, now supports real-time plans which allows Tesla owners with variable rates to automatically charge during negative rates and avoid peak pricing spikes”, said the company.

“The hourly plan offered by ComEd (Commonwealth Edison) in IL will be the first real-time plan that we support with more on the roadmap,” added the Optiwatt developer.

Commenters on the Reddit thread expressed some criticism of the app, stating that negative charge periods were too infrequent for the app to actually be effective. However, the original poster and other, online people on Optiwatt’s development team, responded saying that they had been able to track these times effectively and would improve with more time and data.

The Optiwatt team also stated that even without negative charging periods, the app would help any Tesla owner charge as affordably as possible – a major benefit to anyone charging from home. Oh, and the service is 100% free.

Click here to sign up for Optiwatt–an iOS app is now available.