Ovo UK - New EV Charge tariff

[Adam Charlton]

Slightly confused by the above as not sure what OVO app you mean (the main one or the charge anytime one?). If you don’t have the latter installed how do you set the charge by time?

Basically, I am getting an Ohme installed next week and a M3 ‘coming soon’, but am trying to work out whether I should have the charge anytime linked to the Ohme or the car? What are people finding works best if you have both the compatible charger and car?

From my understanding , u only use the ovo app if you haven't got a supported charger. As you, and I, have a ohme charger, you select the charging schedule on the ohme app. The bit that confuses me is, will the M3 batteries still precondition if all the settings are on the ohme app and not the car?? I get my car on the 5 June so I'm still a little in the dark

 

[Adam Charlton]

Just set the need by time in the charge anytime app to when it is needed - example, 18:00, plug the car in when at home and the app will check the charge rate to calculate how long is needed and will charge when the grid is at lower demand - I have seen it charge during the day many times when it will take 14+ hours to charge from a long drive (I use the UMC which charges at approx. 2kw so can take some time occasionally). You need to just let the app do its thing and not get tempted to click the override button.

Do the ev batteries still precondition condition if the schedule is set in the app and not the car please

 

[TechnoWatch]

Do the ev batteries still precondition condition if the schedule is set in the app and not the car please

Do you mean using the timer for getting the car ready in the morning to a set cabin temperature and increasing battery temperature if very cold?

I have not tried that with Charge Anytime (We use it manually as needed), but the logic is likely to be that you will end up consuming the car battery and the charging will likely only kick in through Charge Anytime if there is lower demand on the grid. When we did use precondition briefly on a schedule in the Tesla app, it would normally consume 4-7% battery in the morning to get things up to temperature, which was mainly taken from the battery as the charger is too slow to keep it topped up.

 

[MrBadger]

I have not tried that with Charge Anytime (We use it manually as needed), but the logic is likely to be that you will end up consuming the car battery and the charging will likely only kick in through

Pre conditioning, or even just defrosting will use a significant amount of mains electricity.

I guess as the main reason to properly pre condition is to maximise your range they sensibly not to use the battery. Unfortunately any HVAC operation seems to prioritise taking power from mains, even if the reason is for comfort and practicality rather than range.

So defrosting your car before work is likely to be quite expensive if it’s a regular thing, and not forgetting carbon use/green energy % that is often not great in the mornings.

 

[JIBYC]

Pre conditioning, or even just defrosting will use a significant amount of mains electricity.

I guess as the main reason to properly pre condition is to maximise your range they sensibly not to use the battery. Unfortunately any HVAC operation seems to prioritise taking power from mains, even if the reason is for comfort and practicality rather than range.

So defrosting your car before work is likely to be quite expensive if it’s a regular thing, and not forgetting carbon use/green energy % that is often not great in the mornings.

Agree.

I'd love an option to stop it taking from the mains, or even to do just sort that cabin without going into battery preconditioning.

I've got a solar+battery setup so the closest I've got is a Home Assistant automation that limits the charge current to 14A which can be covered from my house battery. It's not ideal though as it struggles to reliably test the current.

 

[Andy H]

I don't have the science to back this up, but I associate battery preconditioning with fast charging. I'm assuming home charging is comparatively like a 'trickle charge' so pre-conditioning would give no benefit, or be worse, in time and / or cost.

 

[Andy H]

Mostly on-topic and thought it might be useful info -

Believe we had our first ever power cut while charging the other day. I think it was a blip as almost everything around the house coped. The experience was:

Message on Tesla app that charging had stopped unexpectedly (btw - I quite often get this at midnight when Smart charging. It never seems to matter, but does anyone else get this?)

Charging never resumed. Charge Anytime app says nothing, just reports savings up to that point and the next charge will be tomorrow.

The Zappi was very unhappy. Screen reported an output failure and asked for a button to be held down for a reset. Had to do this twice for some reason.


I'm guessing the charging never resumed because the Zappi needed human intervention. But would be nice to have a message from the Ovo part of the chain that they've tried but were unable to do their thing.