I’m waiting to get Solar and Battery storage installed and my SSE (now OVO) smart meters are currently playing up AGAIN so can’t swap to octopus yet and I’m a high user so more expensive to do that at the moment without Solar and home batteries…. but in the interim;
Just signed up for this OVO plan today. Plan went fully live at least a week ago. Already with OVO (SSE collateral damage).
Dummies guide; (takes 5 mins max !)
Check OVO eligibility; no Solar/ batteries -
, (most/ all newish Tesla’s, plus some other EV’s) or “a lot” of other EV’s if your smart charger is eligible. (Model Y and Tesla Gen 3 charger here). My charger currently isn’t eligible but the car is; (either/ or scenario) as previously mentioned.
1) Download “Charge Anytime” - OVO app
2) Fill in your Tesla account login details on the OVO Smart Charge app + some other minor bits.
3) Set the “Ready by” time to ‘0800’ in the OVO “Charge anytime” app.
4) Set the charge levels: Min 5% Max: 80% (why 5% ? - because I don’t want to charge at peak price back to 20% if I arrive home with 5% before it “smart charges” - it can do that by itself overnight later at 10p
)
5) Plug the car in.
6) repeat step 5) ad infinitum as necessary.
7) Move to Intelligent Octopus when you’ve got your solar panels and batteries.
Thoughts;
1) So it’s a prevent OVO’s “self-destruct” product from OVO that is aimed to stop everyone jumping ship en-mass to Octopus I suppose.
2) It’s not really a “charge anytime” tariff as you’d think by reading the name on the tin. It’s a “plug it in at night” and we’ll charge it anytime it’s really cheap for us overnight(?) to be ready by some time in the morning. (Or is it?) Time will tell… maybe, as I’ve only bin on it 10 mins.
Pro’s;
1) It’s simple to set up and no real lifestyle changes.
2) 10p for the EV charge measured by the car itself in my case (by car’s GEO position) or by your homes smart charger.
3) Good if you are a high or low user with no Solar or home batteries.
4) No increase in Peak price. 10p for car per kW. 33p for the rest as normal (for now
) compared to 42p for Intelligent Octopus.
5) No specific Charge window time limit (?)
Cons;
1) No Solar allowed
2) No batteries allowed
3) Only works for one smart charger (assume multi cars though), or one car(?) if it’s compatible and set up through the cars brain. (Or is it more? No info!)
4) Car must have internet access if it’s not on a compatible house smart charger (I assume?) £10pm but you might be paying that anyway? Or does WiFi count?
@AndyWarrington - few Q’s if you don’t mind, as you’ve been on it for a while…
1) What settings should I set on the Tesla app? Today (first day) just noticed I had left “scheduled charging” on to start at 1945. I presume this should this be turned off? Or will the smart charge app send a new schedule for tomorrow? To turn off that setting now, or later, or just leave it? Any tips/ pointers? Obviously the OVO website give no clue
the “Smart charge” app says “charging next after 0400” but it’s already at 80% - will it reset by itself tomorrow? (Unsure of that).
Worst case - today I pay what I’ve paid for a charge for the last year. Best case, I get a refund down to 10p per kW. But it was only 76% to 80% so meh !
2) Any idea how to get the app working on 2 phones (mine and the wife’s)?
3) Can you still use the precondition function or does it interfere with the smart charge?
4) if the car has scheduled charging off, what stops it charging at peak? As my app hasn’t changed the time I set at 1945 from previously.
5) Anything else important or useful you’ve learned?
Thanks all
