Octopus Go

[D00]

I finally got round to moving from E-On to Ocotopus to make use of their EV rates. I can't get their Intelligent tarriff yet as my Zappi charger isn't compatible with it.

I'm on the Go tarriff that gives you a lower rate between 12am and 4.30am.

However, despite having their smart meter and everything installed, when I plug the car in at 12am, the rate stays at the 29p level.

I asked them via email and got this in response.


Thank you for reaching out to us. I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing issues with the Octopus Go tariff for charging your electric vehicle.

To investigate this further, I recommend checking if there are any other schedules or third-party apps that may be interfering with the charging schedule. Sometimes, these external factors can override the tariff settings and result in higher charging rates.

I have issued a statement for your usage and it is charging at the right time but extending the charge and there are 2 factors affecting.

1. 3rd party schedules
2. battery charge percentage is set to high for the period.

If you have any other questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to let me know.




I don't have a schedule set on the Zappi unit. I just use the car schedule to charge between 5% and 85%. Surely they're not meaning I have to remove that schedule?

On the 2nd point, are they meaning I can only charge it between 12am and 4.30am (say it only gets to 60% at that point) and I can't let it run on from then until 7am to achieve 85% even if I was happy to pay the 29p rate at that point.

That makes the entire thing unworkable and pointless. I'm on the verge of binning them off already as the entire thing has been a ballache from switchover, to getting their smart meter installed to still not receiving a lower tarriff.

Can anyone make sense of their reply there?

You don’t need a compatible charger to get Octopus Intelligent rather than Octopus Go.
For the cheaper 7.5p intelligent rate 23:30 to 05:30 you need either a compatible car (the Taycan is compatible) OR a compatible charger.
I’d suggest trying the Octopus app to register for Intelligent. It sounds like the Octopus web site compatibility checker still hasn‘t been updated since Taycan compatibility was introduced in June/July.
As part of the set up a test charge will occur.
You may need to configure your charger to act dumb (check the support instructions) but just try a test charge first. You may have to say you have a 32a commando socket rather than a specific charger.
I found that the intelligent part did not work reliably and some mornings no charging had occurred. Octopus have been unable to explain that.
i now just use the car‘s timer and profile to charge to 85% between 23:30 and 05:30
Give it go and let me know how you get on.
Octopus customer support isn’t reliable. Some replies appear to be AI generated.

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[D00]

I'm hoping to switch but have been told I can't until I have the car (hopefully December). In the meantime I've asked to switch to their tracking tariff.

Is that correct regarding having to have the car before you can switch?

My experience was that to get OI you had to complete a test charge. But you should still be able to get Octopus Go.

 

[D00]

Thanks FF. Here's a couple of pictures of what I've got set up...

Would I need to change it from optomised charge to preferred charging period at all?

Yes, use a preferred charging period which matches the reduced rate period.
Note the minimum charge of 25% means that if the level is lower, charging up to 25% will occur regardless of your preferred charging period setting. The intent is that you have sufficient for emergency purposes.
With Octopus Intelligent, your Octopus app settings override any car settings. You will see an Octopus originated ENODE profile and time. if OI works reliably for you leave that alone. If it doesn’t, set your own profile and timer. My example is below.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

I have OI but don’t use the intelligent feature. I just set the EVSE to supply power from 11.30-05.30 then set the car profile to whatever I want it to charge to that night. Shows an error when I plug it in but starts charging at 11.30 for 6 hours. Works perfectly every time. Much easier than messing around with a combination of timers and profiles - especially as my Porsche Connect app has been dead for the last 10 days

 

[Jin]

I'm hoping to switch but have been told I can't until I have the car (hopefully December). In the meantime I've asked to switch to their tracking tariff.

Is that correct regarding having to have the car before you can switch?

yep you need a compatible car or charger as mentioned. you need to complete a test charge to get onto the tariff.

I was told that was the same for Go too but didn't try the switch.

Saying that, the electrician who installed my zappi let me set it up with his Tesla (had to install the app on my phone and he signed into his account. Deleted the app after the set up).


so I'm currently on OI but get the feeling, based on their T&Cs, they will move me off after a month if it hasn't connected to a car!

if at any time you do not have an active authorisation for integration with a supported vehicle or charge point and you have not had such active authorisation for a period of more than 30 days, you will no longer be eligible for this tariff and we will switch you to one of our fairly priced standard tariffs and you will be billed according to your usage under that tariff.

 

[pdavison]

Good to know thank you

 

[D00]

yep you need a compatible car or charger as mentioned. you need to complete a test charge to get onto the tariff.

I was told that was the same for Go too but didn't try the switch.

Saying that, the electrician who installed my zappi let me set it up with his Tesla (had to install the app on my phone and he signed into his account. Deleted the app after the set up).


so I'm currently on OI but get the feeling, based on their T&Cs, they will move me off after a month if it hasn't connected to a car!

The Octopus app has a setting to disable smart charging - which didn’t work reliably for me. I have now been waiting for 2 months for them to explain why. Meanwhile I have just been using the car to schedule charging. The only problem I’ve had is not remembering to switch off direct charging after charging away from home - that causes the car to charge to 100%.

 

[Fish Fingers]

Thanks FF. Here's a couple of pictures of what I've got set up...

Would I need to change it from optomised charge to preferred charging period at all?

Mine has worked fine on Octopus Go for 2+ years with a location based Profile and Timer set up as follows (I switched from ending at 04.30 to 04.15 as it occasionally overran).

It will start charging up to 55% whenever I plug it in and then pause.
And/or it will then start a cheap rate charge up to 85% (100% timer selected if doing a long journey).

 

[D00]

I have OI but don’t use the intelligent feature. I just set the EVSE to supply power from 11.30-05.30 then set the car profile to whatever I want it to charge to that night. Shows an error when I plug it in but starts charging at 11.30 for 6 hours. Works perfectly every time. Much easier than messing around with a combination of timers and profiles - especially as my Porsche Connect app has been dead for the last 10 days

I just have the dumb but expensive Porsche charger that came with the car, connected to a 32a socket. The car profile and timer will pause this until the charging period or minimum charge occurs. The only time I ever need to fiddle with the car’s timer setting is if I want to increase from 85 to 100% for a long journey. Otherwise it is set and forget (using the MyPorsche app or the car’s PCM). After set up, continued access to MyPorsche isn’t a dependency.
With this approach you could buy an Amazon Basics dumb charger for a couple of hundred pounds and get an electrician to install a 32a commando socket. Or if your mileage is v. Low, just use a standard 13a plug socket. As the car is compatible, expensive smart chargers are not required.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

so I'm currently on OI but get the feeling, based on their T&Cs, they will move me off after a month if it hasn't connected to a car!

In practice that doesn’t seem to happen. We haven’t used it because it clashes with charging our house/solar batteries and they seem to have left us on it. Maybe we should try a smart charge occasionally

 

[Dcli001]

Surprised at this, Octopus Intelligent is compatible with Zappi and Taycan. Signed up for this a couple of months back with no issues. Just need to set the Zappi to FAST mode during the initial car tests.

You’re right, I’ve signed up with OI and selected Zappi and my Taycan. had a few issues with communication between the car/ charger and Octopus, but I get the extended cheap hours and just manage it through schedules instead of the automated intelligent function for the time being. I have a case ope with Octopus to resolve.

 

[Dave Birch]

Surprised at this, Octopus Intelligent is compatible with Zappi and Taycan. Signed up for this a couple of months back with no issues. Just need to set the Zappi to FAST mode during the initial car tests.

Thank you very much for your advice. I failed the test a few times, scratched my head as to why it was not working and then read your post. I set the zappi to fast, re did the test, it worked and then paused the charging until restarting it overnight. My challenge today is to work out if switching to eco+ on the zappi, to take solar power in will then allow me to switch back to fast / schedule with octopus. Fun and games!

 

[Midlifecrisis]

Thank you very much for your advice. I failed the test a few times, scratched my head as to why it was not working and then read your post. I set the zappi to fast, re did the test, it worked and then paused the charging until restarting it overnight. My challenge today is to work out if switching to eco+ on the zappi, to take solar power in will then allow me to switch back to fast / schedule with octopus. Fun and games!

If you are on OI and have solar, you will find the best option financially is to charge overnight at 7.5p and export your surplus solar to the grid at 15p. With Octopus’ current tariff structure you actually lose money by directing solar surplus to your car

 

[Dave Birch]

If you are on OI and have solar, you will find the best option financially is to charge overnight at 7.5p and export your surplus solar to the grid at 15p. With Octopus’ current tariff structure you actually lose money by directing solar surplus to your car

Thank you. I had noted that. I installed solar just before the huge increase in electricity prices and am so glad I did so.

 

[DynamoCappo]

You don’t need a compatible charger to get Octopus Intelligent rather than Octopus Go.
For the cheaper 7.5p intelligent rate 23:30 to 05:30 you need either a compatible car (the Taycan is compatible) OR a compatible charger.
I’d suggest trying the Octopus app to register for Intelligent. It sounds like the Octopus web site compatibility checker still hasn‘t been updated since Taycan compatibility was introduced in June/July.
As part of the set up a test charge will occur.
You may need to configure your charger to act dumb (check the support instructions) but just try a test charge first. You may have to say you have a 32a commando socket rather than a specific charger.
I found that the intelligent part did not work reliably and some mornings no charging had occurred. Octopus have been unable to explain that.
i now just use the car‘s timer and profile to charge to 85% between 23:30 and 05:30
Give it go and let me know how you get on.
Octopus customer support isn’t reliable. Some replies appear to be AI generated.

This is still an ongoing saga then.

On my app, I've seleted the model and car and chosen "wall connector" as the charger (instead of the Zappi I'd selected before when sining up for Octopus Go) and when I hit "continue" it refreshes the questions and makes everything blank.

I've tried it with a "generic" charger and "7kW" selected too and the same thing happens.

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