Why did Intelligent Octopus stopped charging Tesla EV?

[windsor-tg]

After having my Myenergi Zappi EV charger fitted yesterday, I plugged the Zappi charger to my Tesla EV for the first time at around 10:30am. The EV immediately starting charging as the Octopus schedule showing off-peak was available from 10:30am to 4.00pm (see image).

However, after about an hour of charging, the Zappi stopped charging the EV but the EV was only about 70% charged. The Zappi was showing that charging was complete. Why did Intelligent Octopus (IO) stop charging the EV when the EV had not reached 100% and the charge limit was set to 100% ?

If I want the EV to be 100% charged during the night time tariff period of 2330 - 0530, should I set the ‘Ready by time’ to 05:30 ?

When I had the Zappi charger plugged into my EV during the day on Saturday, and IO showed Smart Charging schedule to be 10:30am - 4:00pm (as per image below), does this mean my house usage cost was at the low rate tariff of 10p kWh?

If I unplug the Zappi charger from the EV during this Smart Charging schedule period of 10:30am - 4:00pm, does this mean my house usage cost is no longer at the low rate tariff of 10p kWh?

 

[infaddict]

My understanding is that IO can stop and start the charge several times during the window. They react to how busy the national grid is, amongst other things. I would leave it plugged it in if stops and it should start again later. Obviously, this assumes you haven't set a lower limit either in the car, the Tesla app, the EV app or the Octopus app.

I also believe that as long as the car is charging during the IO window, the whole house gets the cheap rate. But would like another person to confirm this as I am not 100% sure.

 

[rubenarakelyan]

I have IO and yes, you allow IO (via the app) to determine exactly when to charge the car. You just need to set the charge limit, and "ready by time" to whenever you want it to be ready. With those constraints, the IO app will work out some charging times so that by the "ready by time", the charge will be at the charge limit. You may get one contiguous time block or multiple smaller blocks but they should always result in a charged car by the time you need it.

IO has a set time window from 23:30-05:30 when you always get off-peak electricity unit rates. In addition, if IO schedules EV charging for any time blocks outside this window, those time blocks also get you off-peak electricity unit rates for all electricity usage (not just EV) as long as you are charging. Obviously if you stop charging during a block then that block will disappear and you'll go back to the usual rate.

To get this all to work, you should not set any charge limits or charging schedules in either the Tesla car/app or EV charger. Allow IO to control it all.

 

[windsor-tg]

thanks @rubenarakelyan. I am pretty much following what you have suggested and I am now able to get my Tesla to charge 100%. But on the Tesla app, you say not to set any charge limits. As shown on the attached image from my Tesla app, I have the Charge limit set to 100%. I do not believe I can disable this limit.

One problem I am having though is that when I connect the Zappi to the Tesla in the early evening, the Tesla starts to charge immediately rather than waiting for the IO off-peak period. Here is more detailed description of the problem which I hope someone can help with. Let me know if you cannot access the link

 

[rubenarakelyan]

thanks @rubenarakelyan. I am pretty much following what you have suggested and I am now able to get my Tesla to charge 100%. But on the Tesla app, you say not to set any charge limits. As shown on the attached image from my Tesla app, I have the Charge limit set to 100%. I do not believe I can disable this limit.

One problem I am having though is that when I connect the Zappi to the Tesla in the early evening, the Tesla starts to charge immediately rather than waiting for the IO off-peak period. Here is more detailed description of the problem which I hope someone can help with. Let me know if you cannot access the link

Yes sorry I meant setting charge limits that are lower that the one you set in IO. This will result in IO trying to get to its charge limit but failing since the car/charger keeps stopping it.

You'd normally set the limit in the Tesla app and IO to 90% (this is my setup and recommended for everyday driving) or set them both to 100% if you're taking a trip and need the extra. This prevents premature ageing of the battery.

The car will always start to charge as soon as it's plugged in - I don't believe this can be disabled. I plug it in and then press the stop button in the car, then IO will take over at the chosen time. Just make sure you open the IO app and confirm that it's detected the plugged in car and given you some time blocks, because sometimes it doesn't for some reason (I find this mostly happens if I cancel the initial charge too quickly) and then you wake up with a non-charged car!

 

[howardnj]

I've never had a problem using my Tesla Gen 3 Wall Charger