'Smart' Home Chargers

[dan223]

@Peteski reports at the top of this page that he was on the trial.
Smart charge points are now capable of being controlled by the dno to manage the demand on its network.
It seems likely that the smart charge points default to 3kw in the event that Comms become unavailable.
It's a much smaller job to manage the charge points than turn out the lights or send the fire brigade round as no one is funding the extra infrastructure to deliver to the households.
The protocol in the document that all charge points are now certified to is for the dno to throttle.

Octopus pricing is irrelevant to the dno managing the load.

I didn’t say anything about the user that had the trial in that message? Octopus get this information from the grid so it does affect and seems like an easier way to manage charging based on something like this rather than something at the DNO end. Either way if you are right, like I said there will have to be work done to get this to function, these meters are not communicating with any DNO now, and they would have to have some sort of call back in place for this to happen, which means either a software upgrade or maybe even a hardware upgrade for this to work as your suggesting. At the moment you can disconnect the WiFi etc and it has no affect.

No specifics, don't shoot the messenger - these are the plans and the research.
Everyone is ahead of the curve at present, so it is not happening now.

How smart charging can help unlock flexible capacity from EVs - Power Responsive

How EVs can help drive a more sustainable energy future - Open Energi

Link at end of first one is to the second linked article.

Even these articles suggest the user is in controlled and work with the “supplier”.
“Cars could help to absorb energy during periods of oversupply, and to ease down demand during periods of undersupply”, this sounds exactly how integration with the octopus tariff would work.

 

[goRt]

I didn’t say anything about the user that had the trial in that message? Octopus get this information from the grid so it does affect and seems like an easier way to manage charging based on something like this rather than something at the DNO end. Either way if you are right, like I said there will have to be work done to get this to function, these meters are not communicating with any DNO now, and they would have to have some sort of call back in place for this to happen, which means either a software upgrade or maybe even a hardware upgrade for this to work as your suggesting. At the moment you can disconnect the WiFi etc and it has no affect.


Even these articles suggest the user is in controlled and work with the “supplier”.
“Cars could help to absorb energy during periods of oversupply, and to ease down demand during periods of undersupply”, this sounds exactly how integration with the octopus tariff would work.

I know you didn't say anything about the user, I never said you did.
You stated "I’m just saying I don’t believe the current smart charge points can be controlled in any way in there [sic] current form by the DNO and even so if they did they are relying on the WiFi or cellular connection." and I pointed out that there was a trial that had already taken place and was reported in this thread demonstrating that the technology was developed.
The smart charge points that are being installed include that capability.
What is unclear is whether the client broadband is used, a SIM or some other communications technology - I've asked a friend for the answer to this point and will revert when I have the answer.

I'll repeat - octopus is only interested in billing you for wh used. It is the DNO's responsibility to ensure that its part of the network stays within the deployed infrastructure capacity. Technology is within the smart charge points now that allows the DNO to throttle back the charge rate as it deems necessary WITHOUT REFERENCE TO THE END USER - the end-user can demand more current, but it will not be provided.

Sounds like we are going to go round in circles.
A lot of sites refer to it as smart chargers.

Octopus say “Across the UK, whenever more electricity is generated than consumed, energy prices fall – sometimes to the point where prices drop below zero, and suppliers are paid to take energy off the grid.” doesn’t sound like they are basing it on other octopus customers they are basing it on the grid demands.

I’m not saying installers don’t have to notify the DNO, I’m just saying I don’t believe the current smart charge points can be controlled in any way in there current form by the DNO and even so if they did they are relying on the WiFi or cellular connection. That’s all I’m trying to say. I think the current smart charge points that are around are purely to charge at off peak times and so that the load can be spread via different tariffs in different areas in the future. If DNOs need to control individual charge points it seems like a massive job for them to implement such and I’m sure when it gets round to this they will need to be changed because the current form will not be suitable.

 

[dan223]

I know you didn't say anything about the user, I never said you did.
You stated "I’m just saying I don’t believe the current smart charge points can be controlled in any way in there [sic] current form by the DNO and even so if they did they are relying on the WiFi or cellular connection." and I pointed out that there was a trial that had already taken place and was reported in this thread demonstrating that the technology was developed.
The smart charge points that are being installed include that capability.
What is unclear is whether the client broadband is used, a SIM or some other communications technology - I've asked a friend for the answer to this point and will revert when I have the answer.

I'll repeat - octopus is only interested in billing you for wh used. It is the DNO's responsibility to ensure that its part of the network stays within the deployed infrastructure capacity. Technology is within the smart charge points now that allows the DNO to throttle back the charge rate as it deems necessary WITHOUT REFERENCE TO THE END USER - the end-user can demand more current, but it will not be provided.

And in the trial it was said if they disconnected there connectivity then it would be stuck at 3kw which suggests this. But the difference is this trial was a charge point provided for the DNO and is already setup linked to them, those being supplied are not, they just have to be compatible with a protocol, or similar protocol, they are not currently setup to report back or be controlled, and will probably need at minimum a software update to be able to do so, and I’m sure by the time it gets round to it if the DNO does want to control it then the manufacturers won’t be supporting the current charge points and therefore won’t update them. I’m not saying they don’t have capability to be managed I’m saying that the current points are not reporting back, and will be using either WiFi or cellular, how else would they be able to communicate! I know octopus are only interested in billing, but if the demand goes down they notify octopus and octopus notify you or in this possible case the charge point to start using your electric, this sounds like the chain that will be most likely.

UK power networks have launched a trial now that they clearly say the point is to incentivise the user to charge at times that suit the grid, and they are also partnering with octopus to do so...

 

[goRt]

And in the trial it was said if they disconnected there connectivity then it would be stuck at 3kw which suggests this. But the difference is this trial was a charge point provided for the DNO and is already setup linked to them, those being supplied are not, they just have to be compatible with a protocol, or similar protocol, they are not currently setup to report back or be controlled, and will probably need at minimum a software update to be able to do so, and I’m sure by the time it gets round to it if the DNO does want to control it then the manufacturers won’t be supporting the current charge points and therefore won’t update them. I’m not saying they don’t have capability to be managed I’m saying that the current points are not reporting back, and will be using either WiFi or cellular, how else would they be able to communicate! I know octopus are only interested in billing, but if the demand goes down they notify octopus and octopus notify you or in this possible case the charge point to start using your electric, this sounds like the chain that will be most likely.

UK power networks have launched a trial now that they clearly say the point is to incentivise the user to charge at times that suit the grid, and they are also partnering with octopus to do so...

You now accept that the charge points being deployed have to support the regulated protocol. The purpose of that protocol is to allow the DNO control, there is no further need for updates.
Broadband (WiFi or Ethernet connection to your router) or cellular "how else will they communicate", what about down the copper wire connected to the charge point?
I think it more likey BB/SIM with a max rate of 3kw if comms is not available (you know the same draw as a kettle).

UKPN trial clearly indicating (from your comment, a reference would be nice) that the charge rate will be at the rate that it dictates, the user can then take up to that maximum rate.

 

[dan223]

You now accept that the charge points being deployed have to support the regulated protocol. The purpose of that protocol is to allow the DNO control, there is no further need for updates.
Broadband (WiFi or Ethernet connection to your router) or cellular "how else will they communicate", what about down the copper wire connected to the charge point?
I think it more likey BB/SIM with a max rate of 3kw if comms is not available (you know the same draw as a kettle).

UKPN trial clearly indicating (from your comment, a reference would be nice) that the charge rate will be at the rate that it dictates, the user can then take up to that maximum rate.

According to the requirements that you linked to earlier which mentioned the protocol, it says they need to have that protocol “or similar” which can mean anything. At the moment the charge points are not doing any call backs to anywhere and they wouldn’t be able to take any signals in either in there current state (at least not on WiFi), they would need to do so sort of update to tell the point where to send and receive data from over the protocol, since the DNO are not doing it currently, they would need some sort of update to trigger this information. I can’t see how it would work on the electrical cable, how would they be able to determine who’s is who’s and then send signals back? Sounds pretty impossible, there’s nothing in the current points or at least those I have seen that have such equipment in them.

Either way this is going round and round, we are going to have to agree to disagree.

Oh and one of the many articles on UKPN UK Power Networks launches time of use smart EV charging trial | theenergyst.com which just suggest it is time limited, just like the octopus plan is designed to do, charge when the demand drops.

 

[goRt]

According to the requirements that you linked to earlier which mentioned the protocol, it says they need to have that protocol “or similar” which can mean anything. At the moment the charge points are not doing any call backs to anywhere and they wouldn’t be able to take any signals in either in there current state (at least not on WiFi), they would need to do so sort of update to tell the point where to send and receive data from over the protocol, since the DNO are not doing it currently, they would need some sort of update to trigger this information. I can’t see how it would work on the electrical cable, how would they be able to determine who’s is who’s and then send signals back? Sounds pretty impossible, there’s nothing in the current points or at least those I have seen that have such equipment in them.

Either way this is going round and round, we are going to have to agree to disagree.

Oh and one of the many articles on UKPN UK Power Networks launches time of use smart EV charging trial | theenergyst.com which just suggest it is time limited, just like the octopus plan is designed to do, charge when the demand drops.

Where do you get the assertion that
"At the moment the charge points are not doing any call backs to anywhere and they wouldn’t be able to take any signals in either in there current state (at least not on WiFi), they would need to do so sort of update to tell the point where to send and receive data from over the protocol, since the DNO are not doing it currently"
from, can you please provide a reference.
"determine who's is who's" - that's why the installations have to be notified to the DNO so that the DNO knows which charge point is installed where and its unique identifier. In terms of WiFi etc. can I suggest you familiarise yourself with this before posting about things you don't understand The OSI Model Explained in Easy Steps and then please move away from the focus on communications method.
UKPN has indeed announced a trial, it's split as follows:
1. UKPN (the DNO) will define how much network capacity is available at any point in time on its network infrastructure.
2. the energy supplier (Octopus) will see what generated capacity it has available in these time periods notified by the DNO in 1. and review its costs for not taking this energy.
3. users that have a requirement for energy at a maximum cost rate will then be allowed to take that should their car be calling for charge at that point.

For someone like me who has very limited fixed usage requirements (I only have one commitment on a Tuesday of 70 miles and one alternate Thursdays of 250 miles) this would work very well (ignoring the fact that I have free supercharging).
but, I'd only be interested in energy that cost less than the 5p available from Octopus (currently reliably as I'm only the 2nd install on the estate).

So the DNO will manage the maximum charge rate available to the charge point, the electricity provider will then decide if the customer has decided to take energy at this time (based on pre-agreed criteria) the charger point will then be enabled and the vehicle will draw charge should it be plugged in (and in the case of a Tesla no constraints set on the car relating to charge hours or limits, etc.).
See, a simple workflow.

 

[MrBadger]

At risk of getting pulled into this, I genuinely do not know the answer to who will be in overall control.

Who is the supplier?

Is the electricity company you buy your electricity from the supplier, or are they simply the billing company and the DNO is the supplier.

I know the technical answer to this, its the latter, but in the context of your comment it reads like it is the former?

As a micro generator, my electricity is billed by Octopus, but my generation is billed and paid for by EDF. Its the same electricity supply, of which Scottish and Southern our DNO is responsible for. So, who is my supplier? I would say the DNO.

But does it really matter who tells the 'smart charger' / aka wall connector, to turn itself down? The DNO are responsible for keeping the lights on in their area by maintaining frequency and voltage within limits, so they are best placed to know how to do this - national grid are too coarse, billing company too distributed.

My (educated) guess is that it will be a hybrid approach - carrot ie cheap pricing set on daily basis mostly in advance as now, then stick, turn things down if it needs to be done based on what's happening now. Former done by billing company communicating with smart charger, latter done by DNO in some other way, although it could technically be done directly in charger by frequency monitoring - similar is done in my Solar PV inverter that can curtail its output to help prevent me from contributing (ever so slightly) to overloading the network.

But who knows? They may not even know the specifics themselves yet. Thats the point of some of these trials, to gauge public opinion to work out acceptable approaches.

What is important is that people are aware of what (no need to know how) is planned so it is not seen as some big brother conspiracy. There are lots of benefits from smart charging and smart metering to the country and individual. But people also need to be aware that for all these benefits to be realised, control can be taken from them in some rare circumstances. People need to feel confident that these circumstances will not significantly impact them, ie, they will still have enough energy in their car to get them to their next destination (and back).

Me? I'm probably going to go Tesla wall charger. Not because its not smart, but because of other reasons. Most important, I want my electrical installation not to be done to a set formula as would be the case with subsidised install. I want extra commando socket, a meter, option for second charge point and ergonomics that suit me. I just hope one of the two sparkies that I have in mind can sort.

imho.

 

[goRt]

At risk of getting pulled into this, I genuinely do not know the answer to who will be in overall control.

Who is the supplier?

Is the electricity company you buy your electricity from the supplier, or are they simply the billing company and the DNO is the supplier.

I know the technical answer to this, its the latter, but in the context of your comment it reads like it is the former?

As a micro generator, my electricity is billed by Octopus, but my generation is billed and paid for by EDF. Its the same electricity supply, of which Scottish and Southern our DNO is responsible for. So, who is my supplier? I would say the DNO.

But does it really matter who tells the 'smart charger' / aka wall connector, to turn itself down? The DNO are responsible for keeping the lights on in their area by maintaining frequency and voltage within limits, so they are best placed to know how to do this - national grid are too coarse, billing company too distributed.

My (educated) guess is that it will be a hybrid approach - carrot ie cheap pricing set on daily basis as now, then stick, turn things down if it needs to be done based on what's happening now. Former done by billing company, latter done by DNO, although it could technically be done in charger by frequency monitoring - similar is done in my Solar PV inverter that can curtail its output to help prevent me from contributing (ever so slightly) to overloading the network.

But who knows? They may not even know the specifics themselves yet. Thats the point of some of these trials, to gauge public opinion to work out acceptable approaches.

What is important is that people are aware of what (no need to know how) is planned so it is not seen as some big brother conspiracy. There are lots of benefits from smart charging and smart metering to the country and individual. But people also need to be aware that for all these benefits to be realised, control can be taken from them in some rare circumstances. People need to feel confident that these circumstances will not significantly impact them, ie, they will still have enough energy in their car to get them to their next destination (and back).

Me? I'm probably going to go Tesla wall charger. Not because its not smart, but because of other reasons. Most important, I want my electrical installation not to be done to a set formula as would be the case with subsidised install. I want extra commando socket, a meter, option for second charge point and ergonomics that suit me. I just hope one of the two sparkies that I have in mind can sort.

imho.

Welcome to the party.
As you rightly point out words are bandied around without thought for the complexity of the situation.
You also rightly point out that the DNO is ultimately responsible for "keeping the lights on" in the context of making sure that there is not too much draw in network elements that would cause a breaker to trip (or far worse if it didn't).
The DNOs do know the specifics themselves, they have been testing already and now UKPN's larger-scale test has been announced.

Given that the DNO is ultimately responsible for its infrastructure, it will be in control and limiting the draw from smart charge points, whoever the energy provider is can flex the smart charger up to that limit.
The DNOs are concern about the largely uncontrolled proliferation of micro-generators particularly on a nice sunny day (I know direct sun isn't key) when everyone's down the beach and their houses are flooding the DNO's infrastructure with electricity well beyond the street's design criteria.

I'm off to the garage to start charging the car, when it's going I'll drop the 2.4ghz WiFi that the charge point sits on and see if it becomes limited to 3kw.

 

[goRt]

Welcome to the party.
As you rightly point out words are bandied around without thought for the complexity of the situation.
You also rightly point out that the DNO is ultimately responsible for "keeping the lights on" in the context of making sure that there is not too much draw in network elements that would cause a breaker to trip (or far worse if it didn't).
The DNOs do know the specifics themselves, they have been testing already and now UKPN's larger-scale test has been announced.

Given that the DNO is ultimately responsible for its infrastructure, it will be in control and limiting the draw from smart charge points, whoever the energy provider is can flex the smart charger up to that limit.
The DNOs are concern about the largely uncontrolled proliferation of micro-generators particularly on a nice sunny day (I know direct sun isn't key) when everyone's down the beach and their houses are flooding the DNO's infrastructure with electricity well beyond the street's design criteria.

I'm off to the garage to start charging the car, when it's going I'll drop the 2.4ghz WiFi that the charge point sits on and see if it becomes limited to 3kw.

OK 8 mins with WiFi unavailable to my smart charge point and a constant 32a delivered to the car, so either WiFi isn't key, there's no drop down to 16a implemented or 8 mins isn't long enough - take your pick.

 

[dan223]

OK 8 mins with WiFi unavailable to my smart charge point and a constant 32a delivered to the car, so either WiFi isn't key, there's no drop down to 16a implemented or 8 mins isn't long enough - take your pick.

I don’t think it’s that WiFi isn’t key, it’s that the software in the charge point is not programmed to make any changes should it not be able to communicate, and there is no legislation to say that it has to. The only reason it did on the other trial is that is what the DNO supplied point was programmed to do. Whether that changes in the future or not who knows, but if so then the manufactures would need to offer some sort of update. What I’m trying to say is, while I’m not saying it isn’t possible for the current points to be controlled by the DNO, in the current form they are not communicating with them whatsoever, at least not on points that I have seen, a software update could potentially change that, but this sort of change probably won’t come in for many years and many of the current smart points won’t be supported anymore. Personally as I’ve said before I think that the process will be the DNO tells the energy provider the current network load, they have a system like octopus has, and this communicates with the smart meter to start/stop based on these times, and in the process it saves you money by charging on the lower demand times.

 

[Peteski]

I’m not saying installers don’t have to notify the DNO, I’m just saying I don’t believe the current smart charge points can be controlled in any way in there current form by the DNO and even so if they did they are relying on the WiFi or cellular connection.

Regardless of billing tariff, they are actually capable of being controlled by the DNO. On the trial I was part of I think they were using a 3rd party management company to do the demand throttling, but it was certainly not end user controlled. As I mentioned, if the comms goes down, the unit defaults to a 3 kW charge rate, which protects the DNO from people trying to bypass the control.

As far as billing goes, there may well be future tariffs available that reward the customer for throttling their charge rate at peak times (typically done via an App, which was also part of the trial). But such tariffs are not yet available

 

[Peteski]

OK 8 mins with WiFi unavailable to my smart charge point and a constant 32a delivered to the car, so either WiFi isn't key, there's no drop down to 16a implemented or 8 mins isn't long enough - take your pick.

Presumably your "smart charger" is not being controlled by the DNO so it won't have any 3 kW lock-out. Neither does mine now the trial is over, but it certainly can be programmed that way.

 

[goRt]

Presumably your "smart charger" is not being controlled by the DNO so it won't have any 3 kW lock-out. Neither does mine now the trial is over, but it certainly can be programmed that way.

That's my assumption too.

 

[goRt]

... and this communicates with the smart meter to start/stop based on these times, and in the process it saves you money by charging on the lower demand times.

It won't be off or on, it will be for example "this point is allowed 3kw", the consumer decides to take it or not - the consumer may outsource the decision to its energy provider based on a set of pre-agreed rules.

 

[dan223]

Regardless of billing tariff, they are actually capable of being controlled by the DNO. On the trial I was part of I think they were using a 3rd party management company to do the demand throttling, but it was certainly not end user controlled. As I mentioned, if the comms goes down, the unit defaults to a 3 kW charge rate, which protects the DNO from people trying to bypass the control.

As far as billing goes, there may well be future tariffs available that reward the customer for throttling their charge rate at peak times (typically done via an App, which was also part of the trial). But such tariffs are not yet available

Yes I appreciate your trial you was limited but the difference is in your case your charger was provided specifically for this purpose. I’m saying the current smart chargers may well have the ability to, but they have to be setup and told to communicate to these third parties or directly to the DNO or whoever. At present they do not have any communication with them so such configuration change would need to be issued by the provider.

Such tariffs are available from octopus, they have an “agile plan”

It won't be off or on, it will be for example "this point is allowed 3kw", the consumer decides to take it or not - the consumer may outsource the decision to its energy provider based on a set of pre-agreed rules.

The UKPN trial sounds like it will be an on or off. “time of use data from the cars to initiate charging when demand is low.” That sounds like it is off, and then when the demand is low it starts charging.

 

[goRt]

Yes I appreciate your trial you was limited but the difference is in your case your charger was provided specifically for this purpose. I’m saying the current smart chargers may well have the ability to, but they have to be setup and told to communicate to these third parties or directly to the DNO or whoever. At present they do not have any communication with them so such configuration change would need to be issued by the provider.

Such tariffs are available from octopus, they have an “agile plan”

Again you confuse the pricing of an item with the control of the underlying network which it is provided on.
Here's something interesting from 2014 on how things have got to evolve https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/defa...es_and_responsibilities_diagrams_14_feb_0.pdf

The UKPN trial sounds like it will be an on or off. “time of use data from the cars to initiate charging when demand is low.” That sounds like it is off, and then when the demand is low it starts charging.

but your earlier quote contradicts that position:

“Cars could help to absorb energy during periods of oversupply, and to ease down demand during periods of undersupply”, this sounds exactly how integration with the octopus tariff would work.

So you've got someone who claims to have been on the original trial trying to explain to you how things are.
Then there's me, who claims to be well connected in the industry, trying to explain to you how things are/going to be.

I suspect we're probably both getting bored of trying to help you.

 

[Asterix187]

That's not how metering/service supply currently operates in the UK market, I#ve not seen anything to indicate a move in that direction.

Indeed I get that, but still, it’s what I would want.

 

[dan223]

Again you confuse the pricing of an item with the control of the underlying network which it is provided on.
Here's something interesting from 2014 on how things have got to evolve https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/defa...es_and_responsibilities_diagrams_14_feb_0.pdf



but your earlier quote contradicts that position:


So you've got someone who claims to have been on the original trial trying to explain to you how things are.
Then there's me, who claims to be well connected in the industry, trying to explain to you how things are/going to be.

I suspect we're probably both getting bored of trying to help you.

I’m not confusing, it’s the fact that they are linked, when demand is low the DNO tell the energy provider, they tell you and the network and you benefit if you use electric during this time. Hence this new trial specifically involves octopus. Both quotes depend maybe on how you understand them, but both sound to me that they will turn on/off depending on the current needs of the grid and at the same time.

You don’t seem to understand what I’m saying. I have no problem with the user the claims he was on a trial, it is clear in that case it is being communicated over WiFi back to the third party who is working on behalf of the DNO. My issue all along while I keep saying, but no matter how many times we go round in circles. Those smart charge points that are currently being installed have no way of communicating to any DNO in there current state, and there is nothing programmed on these currently to restrict the output if communications are broken. Again as I’ve said, numerous times, this can possibly be resolve by an update, but that would require the manufacture to do so, and the time that any DNOs are likely to do this on a nationwide basis, they probably won’t get updated anymore. Obviously the only proof of this will be when it actually happens. I know how a few of the smart chargers work.

I don’t need “help” from you, and you don’t seem to understand what I’m saying so this will just go round and round, I’ve said what I’ve got to say, whether you want to listen or not that’s not my problem, that’s really the end of it as far as I’m concerned.

 

[goRt]

I’m not confusing, it’s the fact that they are linked, when demand is low the DNO tell the energy provider, they tell you and the network and you benefit if you use electric during this time. Hence this new trial specifically involves octopus. Both quotes depend maybe on how you understand them, but both sound to me that they will turn on/off depending on the current needs of the grid and at the same time.

You don’t seem to understand what I’m saying. I have no problem with the user the claims he was on a trial, it is clear in that case it is being communicated over WiFi back to the third party who is working on behalf of the DNO. My issue all along while I keep saying, but no matter how many times we go round in circles. Those smart charge points that are currently being installed have no way of communicating to any DNO in there current state, and there is nothing programmed on these currently to restrict the output if communications are broken. Again as I’ve said, numerous times, this can possibly be resolve by an update, but that would require the manufacture to do so, and the time that any DNOs are likely to do this on a nationwide basis, they probably won’t get updated anymore. Obviously the only proof of this will be when it actually happens. I know how a few of the smart chargers work.

I don’t need “help” from you, and you don’t seem to understand what I’m saying so this will just go round and round, I’ve said what I’ve got to say, whether you want to listen or not that’s not my problem, that’s really the end of it as far as I’m concerned.

The issue is the first part of your premise is flawed relating to who owns and manages the network. It is without dispute the DNO, so given that all of your other assertions are guesses.

 

[Peteski]

It is all explained in the link below. The smart charging is completely independent of any pricing tariffs. It is all about automated management of power demand at peak times for the sole benefit of the DNO to keep network costs down. In my case the DNO is Western Power Distribution. A company named GreenFlux was actually controlling the charger power output on behalf of Western Power. To be clear it is not user controlled power management we are talking about here. My electricity tariff has nothing to do with it either.

Smart Charging Explained | Electric Nation

"In the Electric Nation Project Smart Charging means slowing down or pausing EV charging for short periods of time to keep the additional load from EV charging within the existing capacity of the electricity network and avoid costly and disruptive upgrades."

"Smart Charging may have other meanings, including controlling EV charging to take advantage of renewable energy generation or time of use tariffs (such as Economy 7) – Electric Nation is not trialing these approaches at this time."

Once the trial finished my "smart" charger was simply programmed into a fully unlocked mode where it just provides a constant 8 kW like any other standard wall charger. It still has comms with the DNO via GreenFlux, but only for data gathering. If I lose comms now it doesn't affect my charge rate.