Ovo UK - New EV Charge tariff

[Matrel]

I did my first charge 40% -> 70% via OVO anytime last night using the granny charger. I haven't noticed any vampire drain yet but i'll keep an eye on it!

Hey @redmamoth - good to see you enjoying the ownership experience! Yeah, it was all going fine, I have setup the Anytime stuff under my OVO account and am using the Indra App to monitor what's going on and communicate with Ovo as to when it can charge and to set the schedule, then just relying on the settings in the Tesla to control the maximum charge. It worked totally as expected. For me at least though, it was only when I installed the OVO App that I believe talks directly to both the car and the charger that it went a bit weird and I lost about 15% overnight when normally I would only expect to lose 1-2% based on previous experience. The car wasn't plugged in, so I am guessing that the App was pinging it pretty consistently to check if it was yet plugged in and could start charging.

Are you using the OVO app to manage the charge process? I'm wondering if I imagined it and may well try a more scientific test if you're not seeing the same.

 

[redmamoth]

Hey @redmamoth - good to see you enjoying the ownership experience! Yeah, it was all going fine, I have setup the Anytime stuff under my OVO account and am using the Indra App to monitor what's going on and communicate with Ovo as to when it can charge and to set the schedule, then just relying on the settings in the Tesla to control the maximum charge. It worked totally as expected. For me at least though, it was only when I installed the OVO App that I believe talks directly to both the car and the charger that it went a bit weird and I lost about 15% overnight when normally I would only expect to lose 1-2% based on previous experience. The car wasn't plugged in, so I am guessing that the App was pinging it pretty consistently to check if it was yet plugged in and could start charging.

Are you using the OVO app to manage the charge process? I'm wondering if I imagined it and may well try a more scientific test if you're not seeing the same.

You could be on to something here, maybe I didn't experience vampire drain because my car was plugged in and charging during the schedule set in Charge Anytime. Maybe if I leave it unplugged during that scheduled slot I would see the same, I'll see what happens over the next week or so as i'm unlikely to plug in every night.

Regarding the Charge Anytime 'bolt on', is there any way to check / confirm this is all setup on the OVO side? as I can't see anything in my account. Or is the fact I have the Charge Anytime app installed and can see savings building up the confirmation in itself?

 

[Matrel]

You could be on to something here, maybe I didn't experience vampire drain because my car was plugged in and charging during the schedule set in Charge Anytime. Maybe if I leave it unplugged during that scheduled slot I would see the same, I'll see what happens over the next week or so as i'm unlikely to plug in every night.

Regarding the Charge Anytime 'bolt on', is there any way to check / confirm this is all setup on the OVO side? as I can't see anything in my account. Or is the fact I have the Charge Anytime app installed and can see savings building up the confirmation in itself?

If I go into my OVO web account and click on 'Your EV' in the menu I see a report on what's been happening, but it pulls that in realtime from my charger, or wherever it is that the charger stores its information. I think I only get that because I am using the Indra Smart Charger that is one of their approved ones and they talk to each other. I am assuming that with your setup, it's the app that is telling your Tesla when it can or can't charge, so you are probably right, it's probably the app that's the confirmation.

 

[WannabeOwner]

maybe I didn't experience vampire drain because

You shouldn't be experiencing noticeable Vampire Drain on a modern M3 / MY

@Jason71 did a good explanation of things that might be causing drain on battery

 

[TechnoWatch]

I lost about 15% overnight

I have regularly left the car not plugged in and not lost any noticeable battery % of the car overnight. I have the app installed as as you do, although I use a dumb charger when charging.

The car is showing as being asleep for hours at a time.

 

[AndyWarrington]

I have regularly left the car not plugged in and not lost any noticeable battery % of the car overnight. I have the app installed as as you do, although I use a dumb charger when charging.

The car is showing as being asleep for hours at a time.

I have the similar set up with same results

 

[redmamoth]

@AndyWarrington @TechnoWatch do you guys have anything on your OVO dashboard to reflect that you are using Charge Anytime? I don't, but I setup the Charge Anytime app using my OVO and Tesla credentials and it's working well and building up savings in the wallet. I'm worried I won't see these savings as there is nothing in my OVO dashboard.

 

[AndyWarrington]

@AndyWarrington @TechnoWatch do you guys have anything on your OVO dashboard to reflect that you are using Charge Anytime? I don't, but I setup the Charge Anytime app using my OVO and Tesla credentials and it's working well and building up savings in the wallet. I'm worried I won't see these savings as there is nothing in my OVO dashboard.

I don't but that's cos I use a Hypervolt charger - which acts as a dumb device. I do have the savings shown in the 'Charge Anytime' app - these (give or take a few pence) are credited back to my Ovo account at the end of each month (usually 2nd or 3rd of the next month) - these are visible in your online statement via Ovo website each month

 

[M00cow]

Did anyone get this during the setup process:
The Charge Anytime bolt on is currently unavailable

This is all I can see when I click on the link to your account on the website. I have the car setup in the app, registered the Tesla app token with it and my Ovo account too.
Support seem very unhelpful, they just kept telling me I need to get the app - despite me telling them I already have it.

 

[redmamoth]

Did anyone get this during the setup process:
The Charge Anytime bolt on is currently unavailable

This is all I can see when I click on the link to your account on the website. I have the car setup in the app, registered the Tesla app token with it and my Ovo account too.
Support seem very unhelpful, they just kept telling me I need to get the app - despite me telling them I already have it.

It’s the same for me, I’m just gonna wait until early next month and see if the amount in my savings wallet gets credited like Andy mentions above, if not I’ll contact support then.

 

[Matrel]

The only thing I could suggest ahead of that is looking at the history - if it appears to be stopping and starting at occasional random intervals then I would say it's working, at least Ovo is controlling the charging process. If it's just charging from when you plug it in until your EV is charged then I would say it's just charging at your normal rate. At least if it is stopping and starting you'd have a good case with Ovo to say they were controlling your charging.

 

[M00cow]

It’s the same for me, I’m just gonna wait until early next month and see if the amount in my savings wallet gets credited like Andy mentions above, if not I’ll contact support then.

Cool, will just leave it plugged in tonight and see if anything shows up - I usually charge whenever, but have switched the limit up to 90% to see if it auto charges at the allotted time this evening.

 

[AndyWarrington]

Cool, will just leave it plugged in tonight and see if anything shows up - I usually charge whenever, but have switched the limit up to 90% to see if it auto charges at the allotted time this evening.

It charges for when you want the car to be ready for as opposed to a 'period of time at a cheap rate' - so you can tell the Charge Anytime app you want it be ready for 21.30 tonight and it should start charging straight away.

I notice on mine through the Tessie app that it charges in 10min durations a lot of the time, and a couple of 1hr sessions - a bit bizarre but it gets the job done.

Example on next post...

 

[AndyWarrington]

The only thing I could suggest ahead of that is looking at the history - if it appears to be stopping and starting at occasional random intervals then I would say it's working, at least Ovo is controlling the charging process. If it's just charging from when you plug it in until your EV is charged then I would say it's just charging at your normal rate. At least if it is stopping and starting you'd have a good case with Ovo to say they were controlling your charging.

The app uses the Tesla charge status as its points of reference (I.e. how many Kw have been supplied to the car) to work out the usage and subsequent credit.

Here's the pic of charge example

 

[Matrel]

The app uses the Tesla charge status as its points of reference (I.e. how many Kw have been supplied to the car) to work out the usage and subsequent credit.

Yeah cool, so that's what I can see on my charger app, obviously in a different format. The fact it is doing those kind of weird chunks would indicate to me that Ovo is controlling the charging. On my charger, if I select 'boost' it then switches to being permanently on and I get charged my full rate, I believe there's an equivalent on the Ovo app. I assume the only difference with mine is that Ovo is using what's reported from the charger rather than the car to calculate my charges.

 

[AndyWarrington]

Yeah cool, so that's what I can see on my charger app, obviously in a different format. The fact it is doing those kind of weird chunks would indicate to me that Ovo is controlling the charging. On my charger, if I select 'boost' it then switches to being permanently on and I get charged my full rate, I believe there's an equivalent on the Ovo app. I assume the only difference with mine is that Ovo is using what's reported from the charger rather than the car to calculate my charges.

View attachment 936749

Only of you've got a charger they recommend. Else it's the acces to the car via the Anytime app that gives the car charge status and its worked out from there over the given time period. Most chargers are pretty much dumb using this tariff. That is what tells Ovo what elec has been used to charge the car then the subsequent credits.
Unless you've restricted the charge rate (amps) I don't understand why you're not getting 7kw. Ovo wouldn't restrict the rate.
Have you done this via the Tesla app or your charger app?

 

[TechnoWatch]

Did anyone get this during the setup process:
The Charge Anytime bolt on is currently unavailable

This is all I can see when I click on the link to your account on the website. I have the car setup in the app, registered the Tesla app token with it and my Ovo account too.
Support seem very unhelpful, they just kept telling me I need to get the app - despite me telling them I already have it.

Do you use PiHole (or another adblocker)…


If so, disable it while you go through the sign up process, ok to re-enable once everything setup with app.

 

[Matrel]

Unless you've restricted the charge rate (amps) I don't understand why you're not getting 7kw.

It's a 'feature' of the combined charger and Ovo - as you say, with it being an approved one. It means that it can charge at anytime, but Ovo will tell it when and at what rate. So when I got home last night for example, I plugged it in, it was 18:30 and it trickle charged for about 10 minutes at about 1kW, then around 10pm it charged at about 2.2kW for a couple of hours, then after midnight it went up to 6kW. It has rarely charged at the full 7kW, it definitely prioritises lower charging over a longer time, obviously aiming to hit the 'ready by' as late as possible, based on just over a week's experience.

 

[M00cow]

Do you use PiHole (or another adblocker)…


If so, disable it while you go through the sign up process, ok to re-enable once everything setup with app.

You're amazing!
Ublock origin - on my browser only was blocking it but you don't really notice because of the status page coming up on Ovo.
Disabled and it then gives you the choice of adding your vehicle!

 

[Matrel]

Just in case - further update for anybody in the same situation as me with an approved Ovo Smart Charger.

My problem was caused by installing and joining the Ovo App when my smart charger was already integrated with Ovo. Looks like the conflict between the two was what was causing the battery drain and missed charging. That is not highlighted anywhere and no checks are performed to see whether you are already connected via another method.

If you have done this like I did, the fix is to go to the Ovo App and under your profile, delete the account, then uninstall the App. This doesn't impact your existing Ovo/Smart Charger connection, that will carry on, but it obviously stops the conflict. Thanks to @AndyWarrington for the pointers that the App on its own was not the problem!