EV INITIATIVEOnboarding / v3
Operator Manual

EV Initiative / Homeowner · Resident with a private plug

Your charger. Ready to share.

Use the driver app to register, connect and manage your own charger. Start with a working private charging setup; open it to guests when the price, access and payout setup are ready.

Updated 2 October 2026

1. Get a network-ready charger

Home hosts need a network-ready charger: the AC Elite Commercial, listed under Home Charging on evinitiative.shop. In the cart it reads AC Elite Commercial 50A in-body holster, for home. Buy it there, not under Commercial AC. The home listing comes with the My Home setup steps; the commercial listing starts a commercial installation instead. The AC Elite Home does not connect to the EV Initiative network, so it never comes online in the app and cannot be shared with guests. The hardware purchase guide covers ordering and lead times.

The Home Charging category page of evinitiative.shop, with Home Charging highlighted in the header menu and two product cards. The first, AC Elite Commercial, reads Network-ready 12 kW Level 2 home charger from Autel. Connects to the EV Initiative network over your home Wi-Fi, at $1,066 with a View link. The second, AC Elite Home, reads 9.6 kW Level 2 home EV charger from Autel (12 kW hardwired). Does not connect to the EV Initiative network, from $559 with 3 options.
Home Charging on the shop. The network-ready AC Elite Commercial comes first. The AC Elite Home does not connect to the EV Initiative network, and its card says so. From evinitiative.shop on 3 October 2026. Prices and lead times change; the shop shows current ones.
The AC Elite Commercial product page on evinitiative.shop, opened from Home Charging. A photo of the wall-mounted charger with its cable coiled, beside a glowing EV INITIATIVE logo on a dark wall, sits beside a Store link, the title AC Elite Commercial and its description: a 12 kW Level 2 home EV charger from Autel that connects to the EV Initiative network over your home Wi-Fi; register it in the EVI Driver App under My Home, then start charging from the app, share it with family and guests, and earn from it; hardwired, so a licensed electrician installs it; output adjustable from 6A to 50A; 3-year manufacturer warranty. There is one version, so no version buttons. Under the price of $1,066 are $25 shipping, Pay in installments with Afterpay or Affirm at checkout, and Ships in 3-5 business days, then Add to cart, View cart and Download the manual.
The AC Elite Commercial’s page under Home Charging. It has one version, so there is nothing to choose before Add to cart. From evinitiative.shop on 3 October 2026. Prices and lead times change; the shop shows current ones.

The AC Elite Commercial is hardwired, so a licensed electrician installs it. Nobody programs it before it ships: you register it in My Home yourself, and My Home gives you the connection details to enter in the Autel app. You can register it before it is installed.

For a charger already on the EV Initiative network, keep its working settings unless EVI explicitly arranges a change.

A plug in a building has one extra dependency.

The building must permit resident-managed charging and have its electricity rate configured. Ask the building contact to resolve that setup; do not register the building’s charger as a separate detached home.

2. Register your charger, then connect it

Register first, connect second

  1. Sign in to the driver app supplied for your rollout. If EVI already set up a charger for you, use the email EVI has on file.
  2. For a charger at your own home, open My Home. If it is empty, choose Set up My Home. Choose United States or Canada, enter your street address and city, pick your state from the list and type your ZIP code, 5 digits or ZIP+4. Select Create my home. The home name is optional.
    Set up My Home sheet for a test homeowner, opened from an empty My Home. Home name is left at its My Home placeholder. Country is set to United States, with Canada as the other choice. Street address is 100 Sample Street, City is Testville, State is California and ZIP code is 90000. A line below reads Time zone: Los Angeles (Pacific Time), from this phone. Cancel and Create my home buttons are at the bottom.
    Set up My Home with United States chosen and the time zone taken from this phone. Sample screen with test data.
    Your home takes its time zone from your phone. If your phone’s time zone is different from your address, the form asks which one your home uses. Guest hours follow that time zone, and you can change it later in Home Settings. For a home in Canada, the Canadian guide covers the province and postal code.
  3. Choose Register my home charger. The charger does not need to be installed or online yet. Enter its Charger ID exactly as the charger or the Autel app shows it, capital letters included; it is usually the serial number on the side of the charger. Pick your Charger model if it is listed, choose the connector, enter the max power and select Register charger. Add a phone number if the app asks for one.
    Register your home charger sheet, opened from My Home. The Charger ID field is filled with SAMPLE-HOME-01, with the hint to enter it exactly as the charger or the Autel app shows it, capital letters included, and that it is usually the serial number on the side of the charger. Charger model (optional) is left at Other / not sure. Connector choices are J1772 (selected), NACS and CCS1. Max power (kW) is filled with 7.2. Cancel and Register charger buttons are at the bottom.
    The Register your home charger sheet, opened from My Home. Sample screen with test data.
    If the app says the charger is already registered, select Contact support and send the charger ID. Do not register it under a different ID.
  4. The sheet then shows Set up your charger: the Server URL and Charger ID, each with Copy, and the Password. The password stays hidden until you select Reveal for 60 seconds, and hides again after a minute. Do not share it. Select Next for the earning question, or close the sheet; the same details stay on My Home.
    The same sheet after Register charger, now titled Charger registered. A Set up your charger card with a blue Waiting for first connection pill says to enter these in the Autel app exactly as shown, and that once the charger connects it shows Available or Plugged in here. Server URL shows the start of a sample address, wss://ocpp.example.test/SAMPLE-H, cut off at the edge of its box, with a Copy button. Charger ID shows SAMPLE-HOME-01 with a Copy button and the note that the charger ID must match exactly, capital letters included. Password is masked as a row of dots, with a Reveal for 60 seconds button. A green Next button is at the bottom.
    The connection details right after registering, with the password hidden. Sample screen with test data.
  5. For a plug in a multi-residential building that the building assigned to you, check it in My Chargers. To register your own plug there, join the building with its code first (Menu, then Account, then Join a building or fleet), then use Add a charger in My Chargers. The same Set up your charger card then shows there, and later on the charger’s page in My Chargers.
  6. Once a licensed electrician has installed and powered the charger, open the Autel app at the charger. Pair with it over Bluetooth and join your home Wi-Fi, then enter the server URL, charger ID and password exactly as My Home shows them (for a building plug, the charger’s page in My Chargers). Until the charger connects, My Home shows Waiting for first connection and Start charging stays off.
    My Home for a test homeowner whose charger has not connected yet. The charger card reads Home charger, J1772 · 7.2 kW and Charger ID SAMPLE-HOME-01, with a blue Waiting for first connection pill under the charger ID and an arrow to the charger page. Below it, the Set up your charger card has the blue Waiting for first connection pill, the Server URL starting wss://ocpp.example.test with a Copy button, Charger ID SAMPLE-HOME-01 with a Copy button, the note that the charger ID must match exactly, capital letters included, and the Password masked as dots with a Reveal for 60 seconds button. Below the card the Start charging button is dimmed, with the note: Your charger has not connected yet. Finish setting it up above, then start charging once it shows Available or Plugged in.
    My Home before the first connection: the charger, the setup card, then Start charging, which stays off until the charger connects. Sample screen with test data.
    If the card says to leave the password blank, leave it blank in the Autel app. That setup stays open for 30 minutes after you register. If you registered before the charger was installed, let that setup close. Then select Open setup for 30 minutes only when you are at the powered charger, or enter the password My Home shows.
  7. When My Home shows the charger as Available or Plugged in, confirm the charger name, charger ID and physical plug. The connection details then fold into a Connection details row lower on My Home, for a reset or a new router. In Home Settings, set your own electricity estimate if you want home charging cost estimates.
    My Home screen in the driver app for a test homeowner. Under the title My Home and the line Your home charging setup is a photo of a wall-mounted home charger, then the registered charger card: Sample Co. H1, J1772 · 7.2 kW, and Charger ID SAMPLE-HOME-01, with a green Available status pill and an arrow to the charger page. A green Start charging button sits under the card.
    My Home once the charger has connected, with its name, connector, power and charger ID. Sample screen with test data.

3. Set up guest charging

Price → Hours → Get paid

  1. For an eligible home charger, open Earn from your charger. Review the Price step and the current host terms before continuing. Prices are in your home’s currency: US dollars for a home in the United States, Canadian dollars for a home in Canada.
  2. Set the guest price and review the driver’s displayed fees. If you add an idle fee, the maximum is $2 per minute (CA$2 in Canada); grace is required, 5 to 30 minutes, with 15 minutes as the default. Idle billing is limited to 60 minutes.
    Earn from your charger, step 1 of 3 (Price) for charger SAMPLE-HOME-01. The intro says guests pay the price you set, you keep 85%, EVI takes 15%, and family and the free pass list keep charging free. Guests pay is set to $0.30 per kWh, followed by the line: guests pay $0.30/kWh plus a $1 connection fee, which goes to EVI; you receive $0.255 per kWh after EVI’s 15% fee; minus your $0.15 electricity estimate, you keep about $0.105 per kWh. Connection fee shows $1 per paid session, set and kept by EVI. Idle fee is $0.25 per minute, with notes that it applies after the grace period for at most 60 minutes a session, a maximum of $2.00 per minute, you keep $0.21 per minute, and the most a guest pays in idle fees is $15.00 a session. Grace period is 15 min, allowed from 5 to 30 and required with an idle fee. A Continue button is at the bottom.
    Step 1, Price: the guest price, EVI’s connection fee, the idle fee and grace period, and what you keep. Sample screen with test data.
  3. Choose guest Hours. No time windows means guests may charge at any time when guest access is open.
    Earn from your charger, step 2 of 3 (Hours), with Price already ticked. The text says to choose when guests can charge and that with no windows guests can charge any time. Two guest windows are set: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu and Fri from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, and Sun and Sat from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, each with a delete button. Add window, Continue and Back buttons follow.
    Step 2, Hours, with two guest windows. Sample screen with test data.
    Guest hours follow your home’s time zone, the one set when you created My Home. To check or change it, open Home Settings and find Time zone. If it says no time zone is set, choose one there.
  4. In Get paid, check Name as on your ID and choose your Bank account country, United States or Canada. Stripe can’t change the country after setup, so choose the country where you live and bank, then tick My bank account is in that country. If EVI already set up a payout account for you, contact support before you create another. Then choose Set up payouts with Stripe, complete the identity and bank details requested there, and return to the app. Guests can’t pay at your charger until Stripe setup is complete.
    Earn from your charger, step 3 of 3 (Get paid), for charger SAMPLE-HOME-01, with Price and Hours ticked. The summary reads Price: $0.30/kWh · $1 connection fee (EVI) · $0.25/min idle after 15 min free, up to 60 min, and Hours: 2 windows, each with a Change button. A status card says Payouts are not set up yet, and that guests can’t pay at your charger until Stripe setup is complete. The text explains that Stripe will ask for a legal name as on an ID, a home address, an ID and a selfie, and bank details, which takes about three minutes, and that once Stripe confirms the account you can turn on earning and guests can pay to charge. Name as on your ID shows Home Host (test). Bank account country is set to United States, with the warning that Stripe can’t change the country after setup, so choose the country where you live and bank, and to contact support before creating another account if EV Initiative already set one up. The box My bank account is in the United States is ticked, above the green Set up payouts with Stripe button.
    Step 3, Get paid, with the bank account country chosen and confirmed. Sample screen with test data.
  5. Once Stripe and the required acknowledgements are complete, select Turn on earning. Then switch on Open to guests when you are ready.

For a resident’s plug inside a building, paid guest charging is not available yet, so there is no guest price to set and Open to guests stays off. To let a neighbor or a visitor charge, add them to the charger’s Free pass list; they charge free. The home earning wizard is only for eligible home chargers.

4. Decide who can use the plug

  • Review household membership and any free-pass or block lists available on your charger.
    Home Settings, three cards. Free pass list: the same list as on the charger page; people on it charge free at this home charger and become friends automatically. It has an Add friend button, an email field with the placeholder friend@example.com and an Invite button, and one member, Pass Friend (test), with a remove button. Invite link: one link for the whole household; a link is active and has been used 2 times, cannot be shown again, with a Create a new link button and a Turn off the current link option. Household: people who joined through the invite link; Kim (test) is set to Can edit and Lee (test) to Can view, each with a remove button.
    Home Settings: the free pass list, the household invite link and the people in your household. Sample screen with test data.
    Access lists on a test home charger’s page. Free pass list: everyone on it charges free any time; add family and friends by full email address or phone number; also editable in Home Settings. It holds Pass Friend (test), tagged Outside your home, 1 / 100 users, then a Full email address or phone field with an Add button and the note that the app does not show suggestions. Blocked drivers: drivers on this list can never charge here, the free pass list does not override it, and to them the charger simply appears closed. It holds Blocked Driver (test), 1 / 200 users, with the same field and Add button.
    The charger page has the same free pass list and a blocked drivers list. Sample screen with test data.
  • Check Open to guests, guest hours and the public-listing setting independently. A hidden listing and a closed charger are different controls.
    Settings card on a test home charger’s page after earning is turned on. The Open to guests switch is on, with the note that drivers outside your household pay the price set below. Guests pay is $0.30 per kWh; family and the free pass list always charge free and the host keeps 85%. Your electricity cost (estimate) shows $0.15 /kWh with a Set in Home Settings link. Connection fee is $1 per paid session, set and kept by EVI. Idle fee is $0.25 per minute (you keep $0.21 per minute; at most $15.00 a session over 60 minutes). Grace period is 15 min, from 5 to 30 and required with an idle fee. The margin line ends with you keep about $0.105 per kWh. At the bottom the Public network listing switch is also on, with the note that turning it off hides the charger from the EVI driver map while the direct link or QR still works.
    The charger’s settings: Open to guests at the top and Public network listing at the bottom are separate switches. Sample screen with test data.
  • Share the driver-facing link or QR code with intended guests. Do not share your sign-in or the charger password My Home shows.
  • Keep guest parking instructions accurate. A map pin is not a parking reservation.

5. Test the experience and read earnings

Check both sides

  1. Once My Home shows the charger as Available or Plugged in, complete your own charging session and check the charger ID, plug and finished session.
  2. If opening to guests, have a separate permitted guest check the link, access hours and price before starting a session.
  3. Open the charger’s Earnings view. It shows cleared payouts; use Open Stripe dashboard for payout history and bank transfers. Your electricity estimate and the per-kWh margin are in the charger’s settings, next to Guests pay. A margin estimate is not a bank deposit.
    Earnings screen for a test home charger, subtitled Cleared payouts on this charger. All-time earnings $48.62. A revenue chart in USD for the last 7 days, with 7D selected over 30D, shows EARNED $11.76 from 5 sessions. Three cards: This month $5.46, Last 30 days $16.30 and Last payout $11.25 with its date. At the bottom: View your payout history and balance in Stripe, with an Open Stripe dashboard button.
    The charger’s Earnings screen: cleared payouts and a link to Stripe. Sample screen with test data.
  4. If your home is in Canada, continue with the Canadian guide for location and carbon-program checks.

Continue to residential Canada →

If setup stops

The app says my charger is already registered

Select Contact support and send the charger ID. EVI checks who registered it and can free a charger ID that was registered but never connected. Do not register the charger under a different ID.

My charger stays on Waiting for first connection

Check that the charger has power and is on your home Wi-Fi. In the Autel app, check that the server URL, charger ID and password match My Home exactly, capital letters included. For a building plug, check them against the charger’s page in My Chargers. If My Home said to leave the password blank and that setup has closed, select Open setup for 30 minutes when you are at the charger, or enter the password My Home shows.

My charger is an AC Elite Home

The AC Elite Home does not connect to the EV Initiative network, so it never comes online in the app. To start charging from the app, share your charger or earn from it, use the network-ready AC Elite Commercial listed under Home Charging.

Guest charging is unavailable

Check your Stripe state, guest-access setting and hours. Guests can’t pay until Stripe setup is complete. In a building, paid guest charging at a resident’s plug is not available yet, so guests can’t pay to charge there. Use the free pass list instead.

Send support@evinitiative.com the site name, charger identity, affected plug, time and time zone, and the error you see. Leave passwords, sign-in codes, card numbers and bank details out of the message. For damaged equipment or an electrical fault, stop using it and contact the responsible installer.