Daily guide · EE · 2026-07-28
Charging an EV in Estonia this week: what the prices actually said
All numbers computed from the week's published auction results at publication and frozen — this article is an honest snapshot, not a page that rewrites itself. Reproduce via the API.
The gap between the cheapest charging window and the evening peak was the defining feature this week. On average the cheap window sat at 9,90 EUR/MWh against an evening peak of 59,79 EUR/MWh, a difference of 83 percent. That spread was not steady, though. It widened sharply mid-week, with the cheap window falling to 6,18 EUR/MWh on 23 July while the evening reached 105,95 EUR/MWh, and again on 22 July, where 20,76 EUR/MWh sat below an evening of 104,34 EUR/MWh.
For a reader charging an EV, the timing of the cheap window mattered as much as the level. It moved around considerably: early morning on most days, such as 03:00 on 23 and 25 July, but daytime on others, including 14:00 on 22 July and 15:00 on 24 July. A fixed overnight habit would have missed the best hours several times this week.
The concrete takeaway: charging 150 kWh in the cheap window rather than the evening peak saved 7,48 EUR this week, which scales to 389 EUR over a year. Check the window start each day rather than assuming it.
Every day at 13:00 CET, an auction sets electricity prices for every hour of tomorrow — separately, for each European bidding zone. Those prices routinely differ by a factor of two to three within a single day, because solar floods the middle of the day and demand peaks in the evening. If you charge an EV, that spread is money: the car doesn't care when it charges, only that it's full by morning. This is what the spread looked like in EE this week.
83%
cheaper to charge in the best 3h window than at the evening peak, on average this week
9.9 vs 59.79
€/MWh: best window vs 18–21h evening habit (week average)
≈€389
a year on the wholesale component, for 150 kWh/week of charging at this week's gap
Day by day: when the cheap window actually fell
| Day | Cheapest 3h window | Window avg €/MWh | Evening 18–21h | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-21 | 01:00–04:00 | 18.4 | 67.59 | −73% |
| 2026-07-22 | 14:00–17:00 | 20.76 | 104.34 | −80% |
| 2026-07-23 | 03:00–06:00 | 6.18 | 105.95 | −94% |
| 2026-07-24 | 15:00–18:00 | 7.55 | 60.77 | −88% |
| 2026-07-25 | 03:00–06:00 | 1.99 | 34.22 | −94% |
| 2026-07-26 | 04:00–07:00 | 0 | 25.92 | −100% |
| 2026-07-27 | 00:00–03:00 | 14.39 | 19.77 | −27% |
Local time. Notice the window MOVES — sometimes after midnight, sometimes midday when solar peaks. A fixed night tariff catches some of this; following the auction catches all of it.
Automate it in ten minutes
You don't need to read auction results at 13:00 every day — ask the API for the cheapest window and let your wallbox follow it. One call:
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"zone": "EE", "duration_minutes": 180}' \
https://voltcast.com/api/v1/optimize/cheapest-windowHome Assistant users: the Voltcast integration exposes the same window as a sensor you can automate against; evcc users get a ready-made tariff config. The Home plan (€9/mo) covers one zone of your choice with 7-day forecasts — the free tier lets you test everything on DE-LU first. And if you want to charge on a forecast of tomorrow before the auction even publishes, that's the P50 curve — scored publicly every day so you know exactly how much to trust it.
Method & citation. Prices are hourly means of published day-ahead auction results (native 15-minute periods averaged; ENTSO-E/SMARD, attributed). Wholesale-price component only — grid fees and taxes come on top and vary by supplier. Cite as "Voltcast Research, voltcast.com/guides/ev-charging-ee-2026-07-28".
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