Rewiring the EV Billing Game at MVEC 

Let’s face it—submeters have been pulling their weight for years, but they’re starting to show their age. Think clunky hardware, creeping inaccuracies, and more upkeep than a vintage pickup. As electric vehicle (EV) adoption accelerates, Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative (MVEC) needed something smarter, leaner, and more scalable. The question was simple (but not easy): 

Could EV telematics—data pulled straight from the vehicle—really replace the old-school submeter for billing? 

Enter Michaels Energy, brought in to lead project management and whip the data into shape. 

The Nuts & Volts of the Pilot Research 

  • Timeline: Oct 2023 – Jul 2024 
  • Participants: 100–188 homes with EVs 
  • Method: Compare in-vehicle telematics data vs. submeter readings using real-world Time-of-Use (TOU) billing rates. 

Project Goals 

  • Test how well telematics data stacks up against traditional submeters 
  • See how it would shake up customer bills 
  • Sniff out any technical or behavioral curveballs (looking at you, multi-EV households) 

The Three-Phase Test Drive 

  1. Preliminary (Nov 2023): Quick spin with 71 sites
  2. Halftime (Oct 2023–Mar 2024): Expanded to 188 sites
  3. Final Analysis (Apr–Jul 2024): Cruise control with 106–118 participants

Using a combo of regression modeling, usage ratio math, and TOU simulations, the team gave telematics a true real-world workout.

 Key Findings  

  1. Accuracy
    • Telematics nailed it with 93.4% average correlation to submeters (±1.9%) 
    • Monthly accuracy swung between 83% and 95% 
    • Final ratios held tight between 0.96 and 1.16 
  2. Billing Impact
    • 42% of customers saw <±10% change 
    • 26% saw >±50% swings—often tied to faulty submeters, unregistered EVs, or rogue charging setups 
    • TOU billing impact? Telematics was off by just 0.5–1.3% 
  3. Automaker Scoreboard
    • Champions: Tesla, Rivian (rock-solid data) 
    • Middle of the road: Audi, VW 
    • Needs improvement: Ford, Cadillac, Chevy (API blues and limited access) 

 Challenges on the Road

  • Tesla API update (March 2024) briefly cut off data 
  • Submeter issues skewed some comparisons 
  • Assumed battery sizes and energy loss (up to 8%) made modeling trickier 
  • Multiple EV households made it tough to know which car was guzzling those electrons 

The Bottom Line 

This wasn’t just a tech experiment—it was a billing breakthrough. The pilot research showed that EV telematics can go head-to-head with submeters—without the extra gear. With better data from automakers and smarter detection tools, utilities can future-proof their billing while cutting down on hardware headaches. 

TL;DR? Telematics is ready to take the wheel. 

Leave a Reply