Daily guide · NO2 · 2026-08-18
Charging an EV in Norway Kristiansand 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 pattern in Kristiansand this week was consistent: daytime windows were the place to charge, and evenings were the place to avoid. The cheapest windows averaged 78,06 EUR/MWh, while evening peaks averaged 185,86 EUR/MWh, a gap of 58 percent. The best single window opened on 11 August at 42,68 EUR/MWh, against an evening figure of 142,21 EUR/MWh the same day.
Timing mattered more than usual because the windows moved. The cheap period started mid-morning early in the week, around 10 to 11, and drifted later, reaching 14 by 17 August. That last day also broke the pattern: its window averaged 143,95 EUR/MWh, close to some evenings earlier in the week, so the daytime advantage nearly disappeared.
For a typical 150 kWh of weekly EV charging, shifting into these windows rather than the evening peak was worth 16,17 EUR this week, or about 841 EUR over a year. The concrete takeaway: charge in the early-afternoon window on most days, but check the number before plugging in on days like 17 August, when the gap narrows and the saving is no longer guaranteed.
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 NO2 this week.
58%
cheaper to charge in the best 3h window than at the evening peak, on average this week
78.06 vs 185.86
€/MWh: best window vs 18–21h evening habit (week average)
≈€841
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-11 | 10:00–13:00 | 42.68 | 142.21 | −70% |
| 2026-08-12 | 13:00–16:00 | 104.33 | 243.44 | −57% |
| 2026-08-13 | 11:00–14:00 | 79.02 | 238.87 | −67% |
| 2026-08-14 | 12:00–15:00 | 67.34 | 171.19 | −61% |
| 2026-08-15 | 13:00–16:00 | 52.22 | 154.38 | −66% |
| 2026-08-16 | 12:00–15:00 | 56.87 | 157.3 | −64% |
| 2026-08-17 | 14:00–17:00 | 143.95 | 193.62 | −26% |
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": "NO2", "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; public pages and widgets let you inspect the data before subscribing. 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-no2-2026-08-18".
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