

Tado has announced a free app for Android and iOS that could save electric car owners £100s.
The Tado Smart Charging app connects to your EV via the vehicle user account and takes over charging schedules and preferences when hooked up at home. You can set the time you need to go to work each day, for example, and the app will assess when it is best to charge.
That way, it can schedule the charging times for when energy consumption is at its cheapest and most ecologically efficient. You save cash while also helping save the planet.
It works with most electric car brands, including Tesla, Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW, Skoda, Seat and Land Rover. Many of them will work simply by selecting the brand in the app and connecting via a user account. However, on some – such as Mercedes – you might need a smart wallbox charger installed at your home too.
Tado says that boxes from Zaptec, Wallbox and Easee are compatible.
The company also claims that the app could save you as much as 30% on your annual electricity bill. You can also forgo some of the savings and set your own charge levels – such as a specific amount of battery capacity each day.
"E-mobility is a crucial part of the energy transition,” said the firm's co-founder, Christian Deilmann. "That's why Tado has set itself the goal of greatly boosting the attractiveness of electric cars by radically lowering charging costs – while also helping to establish a renewable energy supply in Europe."
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The Tado Smart Charging app is available from today in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Austria. You can download it for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play and use it with your vehicle.
It has been launched as part of the company's presence at IFA in Berlin, which also starts today. T3 will be there for the next few days, so expect to see plenty of other announcements and details appearing on the site soon. We'll also be going hands-on with some new and forthcoming devices, so check back often.

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.
Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.
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