Smart charging is more than cheap
By letting your car move with what’s happening outside — with the sun shining, the price fluctuating, the grid sometimes overloaded — you get the most out of every moment your plug is in the socket.
Four ways. One smart charger. Stekker handles it.
How smart charging works at Stekker
Why smart charging is more than a calculation
Smart charging is not just about saving money. It’s about letting your car move with what’s happening outside: with the sun shining, with the market that’s sometimes cheap and sometimes expensive, and with the grid that’s overloaded at certain moments.
A dumb charger charges at maximum power as soon as you plug it in. Efficient for itself — but expensive for you and for the grid. Stekker looks ahead: when do you leave, when is electricity cheap, when are there surpluses or peaks? And plans your charging session so everything fits.
The result? A car that’s always full on time, a lower energy bill, and a contribution to a more stable, greener grid — without you having to think about it.
Five levels of smart charging.
Stekker uses the ‘five levels of smart charging’ to distinguish between different complexities in smart charging. We explain this in our whitepaper. Most providers who say “smart charging” only do level 1 or 2. This is how we define the distinction.
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Level 1
Manual
“You set a timer yourself or unplug when you think it’s done.”
Someone decides themselves when to charge. At most a timer.
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Level 2
Planning
“The app plans when your car charges based on tomorrow’s energy prices.”
Day-ahead prices, expected charging behaviour, weather forecasts. Doesn’t adjust live.
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Level 3
Real-time
“Charging is automatically steered based on real-time factors like imbalance, battery levels, congestion requests, and so on. It’s more granular than steering on yesterday’s estimate.”
Imbalance per minute, battery state, contract limits, neighbouring behaviour. Dynamic load balancing. Individual connections become smart — not yet collaborative.
Stekker today -
Level 4
Cooperating
“Your car, solar panels and home battery work together as one smart system. You earn money by providing flexibility to the grid.”
Locations look beyond their own meter. Assets from different owners coordinate based on grid conditions and cluster capacity. Virtual super-battery. S2, OCPP, GOPACS, ERE, congestion compensation. Stekker is currently building this system to perfection.
Stekker is building -
Level 5
Fully autonomous
“Everything runs itself. Your home, your car and the grid coordinate automatically — you notice nothing except a lower energy bill.”
Self-regulating, decentralised, anti-fragile, international network that aligns generation, storage and consumption. Once a utopia — now, with AI, likely a reality within a few years.
Horizon
“The virtual battery on wheels is already 500× larger than the largest grid battery in the Netherlands — we use less than 5% of it smartly.”
Source: Stekker whitepaper 1.1, 2025. In 2026 Stekker operates productively at level 3, is building level 4, and actively thinks about level 5.
Frequently asked questions
How does Stekker make money on this?
Stekker keeps 18% commission on the ERE compensation and the congestion compensation — that covers registration with the NEa, market trading, payout to your account, and coordination with grid operators. The remaining 82% goes directly to you. We charge no commission on the savings on your energy bill from smart charging (own solar + dynamic quarter-hour prices) — that profit is 100% yours.
Do I need everything for all four pillars?
No. ERE compensation and congestion compensation work with any smart charger. For charging on dynamic quarter-hour prices you need a dynamic energy contract. For charging on your own solar you need solar panels. You automatically benefit from everything that applies to your situation.
When does smart charging on price and solar go live?
From June 2026 we roll out smart charging on dynamic quarter-hour prices and on your own solar for consumers. ERE compensation and congestion compensation are available today — sign up and you automatically benefit as soon as the rest goes live.
Live in three steps
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01
Sign up with Stekker
One form with your details and IBAN. Done in two minutes. You stay the owner of your reward.
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02
Connect your charger
After signing up you can connect your charger. Stekker supports hundreds of models — the dashboard guides you through the connection.
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03
Stekker takes over
From that moment Stekker steers your charging sessions based on solar, price, ERE and congestion. On your dashboard you see what it earns you.
Business solutions
Multiple chargers, a vehicle fleet, or your own Energy Management System? Stekker also builds for businesses — with scalable flexibility, S2 integrations and deeper control of complex sites.
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