ChargeHQ is closing, and Amber for EVs — its replacement — is Australia-only. ampee picks up exactly where ChargeHQ leaves off: automatic charging from your rooftop-solar surplus, home-battery aware, tuned to your real utility rates. No new hardware for Tesla; any car via an OCPP wall charger.
ChargeHQ was acquired and is being wound down. For US drivers that means the app stops, your charging history disappears at closure, and your car quietly reverts to dumb charging — pulling from the grid instead of your panels.
After Sept 7, 2026 there's no US-available successor — Amber for EVs serves Australia only.
Without a solar-aware layer, your EV charges whenever it's plugged in — often on peak grid power, not your own free sun.
The same core idea — charge from your solar surplus — plus the things a US household actually needs, and a model built to still be here next year.
| ampee | ChargeHQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Available in the US after Sept 2026 | ✓ Yes | ✕ Shutting down |
| Solar-surplus charging | ✓ Core | ✓ |
| Non-Tesla cars via OCPP wall charger | ✓ Real amp control | ◐ Limited |
| Home-battery priority (Powerwall & more) | ✓ Fill battery first | ◐ Partial |
| NEM 3.0 savings, on your real utility rates | ✓ Built-in estimator | ✕ |
| Shared cars across a household | ✓ | ✕ |
| No extra hardware (Tesla) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Built to last | ✓ Subscription, sustainable | ✕ Free → acquired → sunset |
ChargeHQ was free — and free is exactly why it's gone. A tool that never charges for itself eventually gets acquihired and switched off, taking your setup with it. ampee is a straightforward paid subscription: it exists to keep optimizing your charging for years, not to be flipped.
Native control for Tesla today; any EV through a paired OCPP wall charger, with more brands rolling out.
Have a Powerwall or home battery? ampee tops it up before sending surplus to the car — your rules.
Enter your ZIP and the savings estimator uses your real utility's day / night / export rates under NEM 3.0.
Connect once (~10 minutes), pick a target, and ampee quietly charges from the sun from then on. It fails open — your car still charges if ampee is ever offline.
No — ampee is a paid subscription, on purpose. That's what lets it keep running and improving instead of being shut down the way free tools eventually are. You can estimate your monthly savings first with the calculator.
Not for a Tesla — ampee talks to it directly. For other cars, you pair an OCPP-capable wall charger (which controls the charge amperage); no proprietary box.
It fails open: if ampee can't reach your car, your EV just charges on its own settings — you only lose the solar optimization, never the charge. We still suggest keeping your car's built-in schedule as a backstop.
Yes — that's a core focus. Enter your ZIP in the savings estimator and ampee uses your real import / export rates to time charging around them.
Move from ChargeHQ to ampee before September 7 and keep charging on your own sun.