Mercedes launches two offers for smart home charging
Mercedes-Benz is introducing two new services in Germany for smart home charging: MB.CHARGE Home Dynamic and MB.CHARGE Home Intelligent. Both shift charging sessions to cheaper time periods, but differ in how they integrate electricity rate plans.
MB.Charge Home automatically moves charging sessions to more affordable time slots.
Image: Mercedes-Benz Group
In MB.Charge Home Dynamic, Mercedes-Benz adjusts the charging process based on the day-ahead prices in the electricity market. Users simply specify the desired departure time and target charge level in the Mercedes-Benz app, after which the system automatically plans charging for the most cost-effective time slots. No specific electricity provider or tariff is required for this feature. However, the scheduling advantage mainly benefits customers who already use a dynamic electricity tariff.
MB.Charge Home Intelligent takes it a step further by combining charging control with an electricity tariff from The Mobility House Energy. Under the “Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Öko Tarif,” customers pay a fixed electricity price and receive an additional bonus for intelligently scheduling charging sessions. Currently, 10 cents are credited for each kilowatt hour charged, which is automatically deducted from the monthly electricity bill. The first 1,000 customers to sign up for MB.Charge Home Intelligent also receive an 80 euro credit for charging at public stations via MB.Charge Public.
MB.Charge Home initially available for selected models
In both offerings, the charging schedule takes into account not only electricity prices but also periods when a high proportion of renewable energy is expected to be available in the grid. A compatible wall box and a supported Mercedes model are required. MB.CHARGE Home Intelligent additionally requires switching to The Mobility House Energy’s electricity tariff.
The initial lineup includes selected plug-in hybrids based on MB.OS 0.7 or newer, as well as several electric cars that are part of the compatible vehicle fleet. These include models such as the CLA, CLA Shooting Brake, GLB, GLC, and VLE, along with the new electric GLA, whose mass production in Rastatt began only in mid-September. Mercedes-Benz also mentions the facelifted EQS, the electric C-Class, and the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-door coupé. More models are set to follow over time.
Refeeding power from the vehicle battery back into the grid is not included in these two new offerings. The focus is initially on unidirectional smart charging, where power consumption is delayed in time. Although The Mobility House Energy is working on vehicle-to-grid solutions and already sells battery storage systems in the energy market, these functions are not part of MB.CHARGE Home Dynamic or Intelligent.