NeoCharge Home: Enabling Equitable EV Adoption through Dynamic Load Management
NeoCharge Incorporated
Recipient
San Luis Obispo, CA
Recipient Location
17th
Senate District
30th
Assembly District
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
In 2025, the project team completed initial development of the CT clamp energy monitor hardware, which is currently undergoing safety certification. The team has established deployment partnerships with GRID Alternatives for workforce development and Treehouse for installations. Planning is underway for a 2026 pilot deployment across 200 residential sites in California IOU territories, with a goal of 150 installations targeting customers in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
The Issue
California’s transportation electrification goals face critical barriers at the residential level where 60-70 percent of all EV charging occurs. Homeowners frequently encounter prohibitively expensive panel upgrades ($2,000-6,000) when adding EV charging capacity, creating a significant barrier to adoption, particularly in low-income and disadvantaged communities with older housing stock and limited electrical infrastructure. Current smart charging solutions lack the granular energy monitoring needed to optimize charging schedules while maintaining panel safety limits, resulting in missed opportunities for cost-effective and beneficial EV adoption that increases grid utilization.
Project Innovation
This project develops and demonstrates a dynamic load management system for residential electric vehicle charging by combining precision CT clamp energy monitoring with OCPP-based smart charging control. The integrated system provides real-time whole-home energy visibility at the panel level, enabling intelligent charging optimization that automatically prevents overloads while maximizing off-peak and renewable energy utilization. The smart charging algorithm will allow users to set cost goals, carbon reduction goals, or both, then automatically optimize charging schedules to achieve those objectives while maintaining grid reliability. The code-compliant energy management system communicates locally with OCPP chargers to provide reliable load control even during internet outages. This project aims to overcome barriers to California’s energy goals by enabling affordable, safe, and efficient in-home electric vehicle charging without extensive infrastructure upgrades, prioritizing access to solutions in low-income and disadvantaged communities, and demonstrating significant peak load, cost, and emission reduction benefits.
Project Goals
Project Benefits
The project will deliver ratepayer benefits by enabling affordable residential EV charging without costly panel upgrades, saving homeowners $2,000-6,000 in avoided costs per installation. The smart charging algorithm will optimize charging schedules based on utility time-of-use rates and WattTime carbon intensity data, reducing charging costs by up to 50 percent while cutting carbon emissions by 1.4-3.2 lbs per EV daily. At scale deployment, the system will provide significant peak demand reduction capability, supporting California’s grid reliability objectives during critical periods. By prioritizing 75 percent of installations in disadvantaged communities, the project ensures equitable access to EV adoption benefits for populations historically excluded by infrastructure cost barriers. The third-party national lab pilot study will generate validated data demonstrating grid impacts across multiple optimization strategies, informing future policy and utility program design. Integration with Leap demand response will create ongoing revenue opportunities for participants while contributing to California’s clean energy grid flexibility goals.
Key Project Members
Spencer Harrison
Subrecipients
GRID Alternatives
Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC
Match Partners
NeoCharge Incorporated
