Wiki Everything you wanted to know about Intelligent Octopus But Were Afraid To Ask

Why write this post?
A lot of people are starting to get interested in IO. I don't think Octopus do a very good job of spelling out the benefits in their website. They have some FAQs, but the same questions keep coming up over and over on the forums.

What is it?
In a nutshell, IO is a split tariff that gives you a cheap off-peak rate for charging your EV and other electrical items in the household, including home batteries.

Isn’t that the same as Octopus Go or Go Faster?
The principle is the same, but in exchange for some benefits which we’ll explain, you allow Octopus to control the timing of your EV charge, so they can choose low carbon intensity and/or cheap wholesale priced time slots.

So I’m not in control of my charge? I don’t like the sound of that!
Well yes…and no. You’re in control of how much to charge and when you want the car to be ready, just like you would be normally. Within those parameters, you’re allowing Octopus to control which half-hour slots the car chooses to get to that target % charge. And you can always override IO if you want to “bump charge” through the day.

OK, but what are the benefits you mentioned for this trade off?
First of all, you get a larger guaranteed off-peak window for using household appliances and charging home batteries, etc. It’s six hours between 23:30-05:30. Go, for example, is a fixed 4 hour window.
In addition, when IO schedules your EV charging slots it sometimes creates schedules that fall outside of the fixed, six hour window. If that happens your EV charging and all your household use in these extra-slots is also charged at off-peak rates.
I have frequently had schedules give me seven or more hours of off-peak rates. On one occasion, I had a total of ten hours of off-peak rates.

Am I eligible?
You need a smart meter and a compatible car and/or charger. Since you’re reading this here, I assume you’ve got or are thinking of getting a Tesla. IO works with the Tesla API to create the charging schedules. The advantage of this is that IO will work with any* home charger. If you have a charger with smart features, you need to disable them so that the charger acts as a dumb switch. IO will control everything via Tesla’s API to start and stop your charging.
*Even your granny charger - but you need to tell IO what the max throughput is when you go through setup so that it can work out your schedules properly.

Some of this sounds too good to be true.
Phantom drain caused by having smart charging enabled in the Octopus app has been fixed as of 30th August 2022. One small side effect appears to be that schedules sometimes take longer to appear in the app after plugging in.

Further questions (to be updated in the main thread body once the edit timer on this post expires)

I have two EVs, can I charge the other while on IO?
Not with IO scheduling the charging, but you can charge any other car in the fixed 23:30-05:30 off peak window or at any other time at peak prices.

What are the rates etc?
Octopus do a decent job of explaining the peak and off-peak rates along with contracts etc. Head over to their pages to discover that.

I asked for a target % of x, but I got less than x.
There are two or three reasons for this.

The first, most common reason, is that Tesla reports battery % differently depending on where you look. The API (that IO uses) reports the gross battery %. This is generally fixed but can fluctuate very slightly. The Tesla app shows usable %. Apps like Teslamate and Teslafi can display both. Quite often, there is a delta of 2-3% which may be down to battery temp or other factors. This usable % will often be recovered as the battery warms up during a drive.

Some users have reported charging % being way off, perhaps 10% or more. This could be down to an error in the onboarding process. Some of the charger database entries incorrectly assume the charger you are onboarding is the 11kW version, without actually saying so in the charger description. The Andersen A2 was an early example of this. If you suspect this may be the case, the easiest thing to do is go through the on-boarding again and choose "Generic 7.4kW charger". It won't affect your functionality on IO in any way.

Lastly, it has to be mentioned that occasionally IO just craps out. It may be down to a comms error, a server error at Octopus' end, or just reasons. IO is a beta product and it's wise to expect one or two quirks from time to time

 

[m3gt2]

I just switched to Go a week or so ago, and originally thought to swtich to IO once my Tesla arrive on Sep 21.
However my car is now delayed for 8 days by Tesla.

Any idea how much time will be given to me to perform the test charge if I start the IO process now?
Still a bit worried that the fixed tariff rate of IO will change in the meantime, so I am trying to lock it in.

Thanks.

You don't get switched until you have successfully completed the test. Just stay as you are until you get your car, then in the Octopus app you can click to switch to IO and it will ask you to perform the test charge and then the switch is pretty much instant.

 

[Billbrown1982]

You don't get switched until you have successfully completed the test. Just stay as you are until you get your car, then in the Octopus app you can click to switch to IO and it will ask you to perform the test charge and then the switch is pretty much instant.

Yes, but I believe there is a 30 day window to complete the switch, or it defaults back to your old tariff and you have to start again.

IF the prices go up, you will lock in at the higher price. But with the whole price freeze promised, it would probably be bad press for Octopus to raise the prices right now.

 

[Obie]

Swopped from Go to IO yesterday and had the first charge last night with no problems. One of the main reasons for the change was as a novice EV owner i found it hard trying to work out where to set the charge limit to avoid going over the 4 hours of cheap rate on Go, rather leave it to Octopus to work out!
Is it anything to worry about with the extra charge switching you get with IO, plug it in, starts charging, stop in app, then get several charging sessions through the night vs Go that has one on and off per charge?

 

[yessuz]

Swopped from Go to IO yesterday and had the first charge last night with no problems. One of the main reasons for the change was as a novice EV owner i found it hard trying to work out where to set the charge limit to avoid going over the 4 hours of cheap rate on Go, rather leave it to Octopus to work out!
Is it anything to worry about with the extra charge switching you get with IO, plug it in, starts charging, stop in app, then get several charging sessions through the night vs Go that has one on and off per charge?

it is quite simple to calculate charge levels manually, really. You have 7kw charger. in 1 hr it can produce 7kwh charge.
you LR has ~80 KWH battery.
Meaning that 7 kwh = ~9% of your battery.

So in 4 hrs, in order to fit in 4 hr off peak with regular GO you can charge 4 x 9% = 36%

SO: set your charge level current SOC + 36% and more or less you are covered

 

[ElectricPolice]

it is quite simple to calculate charge levels manually, really. You have 7kw charger. in 1 hr it can produce 7kwh charge.
you LR has ~80 KWH battery.
Meaning that 7 kwh = ~9% of your battery.

So in 4 hrs, in order to fit in 4 hr off peak with regular GO you can charge 4 x 9% = 36%

SO: set your charge level current SOC + 36% and more or less you are covered

That's bang on what I do, I check where I'm at charge-wise and add 35%. Scheduled start time is fixed at 00:30 in the Tesla App.

Only time it is an issue is when charge is below 15% as the minimum limit is 50% (as you know).

Then I have a sleep interupted night or set my alarm for 04:30 so I stop the charging... not called the Electric Police for nothing you know

 

[phil4]

IO is very odd in that regard.

I plugged in last night, and asked it for 16% more charge (7kW charger, and a M3P from 2020). It suggested charging slots from 00:30 to 05:30 inclusive. That's a -lot- longer than it needed.

I don't complain, but thought it was interesting.

 

[yessuz]

IO is very odd in that regard.

I plugged in last night, and asked it for 16% more charge (7kW charger, and a M3P from 2020). It suggested charging slots from 00:30 to 05:30 inclusive. That's a -lot- longer than it needed.

I don't complain, but thought it was interesting.

it will use the off-peak slot that's it.

 

[phil4]

it will use the off-peak slot that's it.

It will, they were, and that's cool.

but quite often when given similar (my work commute uses about the same every day), it offers a much shorter window. I'm using the app to see what it's plan is, so usually see a couple of hours, but last night was 5 of them. Hence odd.

 

[Fezza]

Soo... apologies if this has been asked already and I can guess the answer but thought I'd check..

Recently switched to octopus and submitted to move to GO but my smart meter isn't connecting after 2/3 weeks and they're messing about with it and sending an engineer at some point so I'm still on variable... urgh.

Tesla arrives next week. Can I switch to IO and perform the test charge etc if they're not getting my meter readings every half hour i.e. will it take the readings from the Tesla linked to it etc rather than the smart meter? I'm aware I wouldn't get cheap charging for the rest of the house but the thought of charging the Tesla at the variable rate doesn't appeal when it could be 7.5p/kwh?

I suspect the answer is that the smart meter needs to be fully working but thought I'd ask.

 

[Darreno]

Does anyone know is Tessie automation charging schedule will block IO smart charging and visa versa.

I want Tessie to force the car to accept charge between 23:30-05:30 and also let IO charge outside the hours. I have noticed IO blocks the car accepting a charge in the 23:30-05:30 range, which I dont want it to do.

 

[robmcm]

I just switched to Go a week or so ago, and originally thought to swtich to IO once my Tesla arrive on Sep 21.
However my car is now delayed for 8 days by Tesla.

Any idea how much time will be given to me to perform the test charge if I start the IO process now?
Still a bit worried that the fixed tariff rate of IO will change in the meantime, so I am trying to lock it in.

Thanks.

I think it’s locked in once you start the process. I was going to do the same but I think go faster is better for me as it ends later in the morning (and I’m low mileage).

 

[Skie]

Does anyone know is Tessie automation charging schedule will block IO smart charging and visa versa.

I want Tessie to force the car to accept charge between 23:30-05:30 and also let IO charge outside the hours. I have noticed IO blocks the car accepting a charge in the 23:30-05:30 range, which I dont want it to do.

The whole point of IO is that it allows Octopus to load balance power draw by ensuring all cars controlled by it only charge when they want them to. Trying to force the car to charge outside of the Octopus schedule goes against that.

 

[Darreno]

The whole point of IO is that it allows Octopus to load balance power draw by ensuring all cars controlled by it only charge when they want them to. Trying to force the car to charge outside of the Octopus schedule goes against that.

My aim is to let IO charge the car outside of the 23:30-05:30 period. But also to allow the car take power from the grid in the 23:30-05:30 should it want to, for example, if it’s fully charged at 02:00, want it to precondition for 05:30 depart using the power from the grid rather than the battery.

 

[Skie]

My aim is to let IO charge the car outside of the 23:30-05:30 period. But also to allow the car take power from the grid in the 23:30-05:30 should it want to, for example, if it’s fully charged at 02:00, want it to precondition for 05:30 depart using the power from the grid rather than the battery.

Preconditioning/climate when plugged in uses shore power and won’t drain the battery. It’s not classed as charging so IO doesn’t have any impact.

 

[Darreno]

Preconditioning/climate when plugged in uses shore power and won’t drain the battery. It’s not classed as charging so IO doesn’t have any impact.

So if IO fully charged the car by at say 02:00 and its schedule ends at that time, will the car take power after 02:00 if for whatever reason it wants it. I thought IO stops the car receiving power outside of its schedules.

 

[Skie]

So if IO fully charged the car by at say 02:00 and its schedule ends at that time, will the car take power after 02:00 if for whatever reason it wants it. I thought IO stops the car receiving power outside of its schedules.

Shore power (for AC, Preconditioning etc.) is not considered charging so the car is free to draw it whenever it needs it.

At the risk of repeating myself IO starting/stopping a charge is exactly the same as you hitting the Start Charging/Stop Charging button in the app. IO monitors the status of the car and will stop home charging that isnt within the window it has set, hence why they have the bump charge button in the Octopus app to tell them "yes, I really need a charge now, price be damned".

 

[moonwizard]

Does anyone have experience with IO and a ProjectEV charger?

Switched to IO earlier in the week, past 2 nights after the first charge window I get the unable to control your device notification and the ProjectEV app shows the charge as "finished" and won't allow the car to start charging again. The only way to reset is to unplug the cable and plug back in.
Really annoying when the first window is usually 00:00 - 00:30 so the car is only getting 30 minutes of charge a night.

 

[Darreno]

Swopped from Go to IO yesterday and had the first charge last night with no problems. One of the main reasons for the change was as a novice EV owner i found it hard trying to work out where to set the charge limit to avoid going over the 4 hours of cheap rate on Go, rather leave it to Octopus to work out!
Is it anything to worry about with the extra charge switching you get with IO, plug it in, starts charging, stop in app, then get several charging sessions through the night vs Go that has one on and off per charge?

it is quite simple to calculate charge levels manually, really. You have 7kw charger. in 1 hr it can produce 7kwh charge.
you LR has ~80 KWH battery.
Meaning that 7 kwh = ~9% of your battery.

So in 4 hrs, in order to fit in 4 hr off peak with regular GO you can charge 4 x 9% = 36%

SO: set your charge level current SOC + 36% and more or less you are covered

That's bang on what I do, I check where I'm at charge-wise and add 35%. Scheduled start time is fixed at 00:30 in the Tesla App.

Only time it is an issue is when charge is below 15% as the minimum limit is 50% (as you know).

Then I have a sleep interupted night or set my alarm for 04:30 so I stop the charging... not called the Electric Police for nothing you know

If it helps, apps like Tessie allow you to create custom auto charging schedules. As an example, on Tessie, hit Automation, Create Automation, and create 00:30 to 04:30 Monday to Sun with a geo-location at home so it only activates when at home. This will set your car to only accept charge within them hours, that would remove the need to calculate max battery %.

@ElectricPolice No more sleep interrupted nights

I guess the only other option is a smart EV charger.

 

[Mrklaw]

IO is controlling my Tesla, not my Zappi.

Our friends are getting an e-niro as a company car shortly (jammy gits) but will take a while to sort out a charger. I’d like to offer them the option to charge using my zappi overnight if possible to save then using the local shell rapid at 70p/kwh. probably only charge once a week so not the end of the world if they have to use the shell

If I don’t use the timer aspect, technically I should be able to charge theirs overnight during the core off peak hours?

contractually is there anything preventing me doing that? I know they don’t allow two cars to be intelligently controlled but what about one dumbly charged?

 

[4monks]

Soo... apologies if this has been asked already and I can guess the answer but thought I'd check..

Recently switched to octopus and submitted to move to GO but my smart meter isn't connecting after 2/3 weeks and they're messing about with it and sending an engineer at some point so I'm still on variable... urgh.

Tesla arrives next week. Can I switch to IO and perform the test charge etc if they're not getting my meter readings every half hour i.e. will it take the readings from the Tesla linked to it etc rather than the smart meter? I'm aware I wouldn't get cheap charging for the rest of the house but the thought of charging the Tesla at the variable rate doesn't appeal when it could be 7.5p/kwh?

I suspect the answer is that the smart meter needs to be fully working but thought I'd ask.

Your right - you'll need meter readings working before a test charge with IO, or indeed before they confirm GO is working.