Intelligent Octopus Question

[Michellis]

This is my first post on the forum.
And..yes, I know there are other posts relating to this subject so please forgive this newby question as I can't find the exact answer on here.

I have had my Tesla Model 3 for just a couple of weeks. I have the Tesla Wall Charger and I have just switched to Octopus. I am now thinking of going for the IO charging tariff. I am rather nervous about making the switch. In other words, I don't want to mess up my Tesla App and have to rely on the Octopus app alone.
Basically, can anyone give me assurance that making this switch is advisable....
Thanks in advance.
I am in Oxford UK if that is relevant...

 

[djtaylor]

I'd love to be able to say something constructive to help you but I live on a legacy Economy 7 tariff with a strangely set clock so the only thing I can offer is "Welcome to the forum!"

 

[Billbrown1982]

This is my first post on the forum.
And..yes, I know there are other posts relating to this subject so please forgive this newby question as I can't find the exact answer on here.

I have had my Tesla Model 3 for just a couple of weeks. I have the Tesla Wall Charger and I have just switched to Octopus. I am now thinking of going for the IO charging tariff. I am rather nervous about making the switch. In other words, I don't want to mess up my Tesla App and have to rely on the Octopus app alone.
Basically, can anyone give me assurance that making this switch is advisable....
Thanks in advance.
I am in Oxford UK if that is relevant...

Its absoloutely fine. It won't have any affect on the Tesla app except for the fact it will start and stop charges when IO decides.

At any point you can turn the Octopus app off and charge manually via your own app should you wish.

 

[Jason71]

If you start a change outside of the window IO selects then IO can stop the charge again unless you select bump charge in the Octopus app. A bit annoying but not a big deal.

 

[DoricJim]

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-intelligent-octopus-but-were-afraid-to-ask.271358/

 

[Drew57]

@Michellis:

• When you enable IO via the Octopus app it takes control as long as you don't have conflicting settings or schedules in the Tesla app or the car.
  
  
• When you disable IO via the Octopus app then the Tesla app and the charging device (EVSE) take control.
  
  
• If you are nervous that IO may not provide a charge when needed for a critical journey then disable via the Octopus app & use the Tesla app on that occasion (alternatively sign up for another tariff like Go).

I use IO in every situation outside of charging from solar panels (different EVSE to the Tesla one). It works very well and at lower off-peak cost than any other tariff.

 

[Michellis]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I feel confident now in going for the IO option.....

 

[billybobb2019]

I have a MY and on IO and have and OHME home Pro - it’s been fairly easy but the only issue i ever had was that occasionally when the charger reduces the amperage to meet targets the car sees this as a voltage issue and reduces its own intake leading to it missing the charging target you set - only happens when the car is fairly high on charge anyway.

 

[RedMod3]

Just be careful how you operate IO if you have battery storage.

 

[Chris CG]

I was in a similar position - had been on Octopus Go for 2 years and really liked the simplicity and knowing exactly what was what and when was when - and really didn’t want to hand over control to Octopus and their App. However on renewal this year, the Go tariff was 10p off peak for 4 hours as opposed to IO 7.5p for a 6 hours (minimum) - plus the daily and peak charge was slightly more with Go too.

Although I hated the thought of losing ‘control’ I decided that I’d give IO a try - and I’m glad I did. I let the app sync with the car and do one charge that night - then set my Anderson A2 to only allow charging from 11:30 until 5:30 (as I know this will always be off peak). As my daily commute is only 7 miles combined I only charge once a week at most, so I disable the Octopus App until the night I charge. So far (been about 2 months) faultless.

Only downside is my IHD now thinks I’m being charged 7.5p all day and can’t handle the split tariff - which I’m sure it used to with GO. Anyway, I feel I’ve got enough ‘control’ with IO and switching my charger to off peak hours only hasn’t affected the IO interface at all.

 

[Mark77a]

Been on Go faster for a while (4 hours at 5p / KWh, 7.5p ) .
Got the renewal early 'go faster will just go to go' OR.. you can try intelligent.
I checked and tried it, and then went back to go faster and go in October..

Here's what I found (others may find different)
+ Intelligent works great with commando 32A socket
(sweet ... as that means you get same 32A as wall charger, but with bundled and 4 year warranted EVSC brick with £35 32A adaptor .. why pay £400 to £1000 when a £12 Commando socket as used on Marinas etc works just as well )
+ the tesla app for car charging worked perfectly

BUT

- We have a powerwall but the Octopus API is not properly integrated - so the powerwall was discharged and charged at bad times eg not charged during low GO / night rates rates, and discharged to the grid when Solar was available .. hence double bad whammy - buy at most expensive to charge !
+ Octopus were good and switched us back to Go faster and soon Go.
+ Charging both the car AND the powerwall using GO (if either not full from 'free' PV power) is really simple to schedule and control with the Tesla App.

I'll review intelligent once better integrated with Powerwall and PV's
BUT atm with GO I can schedule charging and grid shifting to get much better overall costs and being kinder to the grid than Intelligent .

Just my 1p .. have I missed something ???

 

[Bootneckshuffl]

I’m in a similar situation now. Renewal through for my Octopus Go and they’ve ramped up my off peak rates from 7.5 to 9.5, whilst dropping the park rate slightly but raising the standing charge which eats up that saving.

They’ve not even mentioned IO to me, merely offered me Go again and also a flexible tariff.

 

[Jason71]

I’m in a similar situation now. Renewal through for my Octopus Go and they’ve ramped up my off peak rates from 7.5 to 9.5, whilst dropping the park rate slightly but raising the standing charge which eats up that saving.

They’ve not even mentioned IO to me, merely offered me Go again and also a flexible tariff.

don't ask, don't get.

 

[Bootneckshuffl]

don't ask, don't get.

True, they’re getting a call later mate

 

[Cnixon]

...Basically, can anyone give me assurance that making this switch is advisable....
Thanks in advance.

Welcome and definitely recommend. I have been with IO for about a year. 2 ways to operate either the car controls charging or smart charger. For the car to control charging (my preference) set smart wall charger to 'Dumb'/ 'off' mode. Personally I let IO control everything I don't set schedules in car. Set your battery limit to 2 days worth of charge and you will be fine. Set cars charge limit to 5% less than IO. If you keep car plugged in at all times and set departure time in IO App as late as possible you can get charges outside of schedule times which benefits you with other household loads.

 

[Adopado]

Do we really need another IO thread? (when we've got one already)

 

[Cnixon]

Probably not but it was a question from a new user. I suppose its like saying "do we need another windscreen wipers are Rubbish" thread. Personally that other thread winds me up a bit just because of the click-bait style title.

 

[Silent_Growler]

Octopus IO has an issue if there's more than one Tesla device (car or storage) on the account. Essentially, IO can't swipe left right to chose the correct car/storage and simply doesn't work.

 

[browellm]

Octopus IO has an issue if there's more than one Tesla device (car or storage) on the account. Essentially, IO can't swipe left right to chose the correct car/storage and simply doesn't work.

It doesn't have an "issue". It's not supported and the tariff FAQ says this.

If you want to charge two Teslas, or one Tesla+1 other EV, one of them needs to be done on a dumb schedule in the fixed-off peak window.

*There's a workaround if you onboard your cars with Ohme Pro charger integration rather than the car API onboarding.

 

[Michellis]

Welcome and definitely recommend. I have been with IO for about a year. 2 ways to operate either the car controls charging or smart charger. For the car to control charging (my preference) set smart wall charger to 'Dumb'/ 'off' mode. Personally I let IO control everything I don't set schedules in car. Set your battery limit to 2 days worth of charge and you will be fine. Set cars charge limit to 5% less than IO. If you keep car plugged in at all times and set departure time in IO App as late as possible you can get charges outside of schedule times which benefits you with other household loads.

Really helpful. Thanks very much