Octopus Charging and Q4 Location Settings

[Tony]

Try now, ours is working. They just did an update. If you're using PodPoint make sure it's set to manual charge.

[ScottyQ4]

Please excuse my ignorance. Does this tariff work with a podpoint solo ie the charger provided by Audi?? I’m already on the octopus Go tariff.

[Simon Q4]

Evening all…

I am struggling to connect my Audi to the Octopus app.

Some background, I’ve had my Audi on the app since March, but during the first weekend of Nov I noticed when I would plug my car in to our home charger (PodPoint Solo) the Octopus app was not creating a charging plan as usual but it was charging immediately (beyond the temporary charge before disconnecting in preparation for the plan during the off peak time).

I thought maybe all the strong winds and stormy weather we were having could mean Octopus had excess electricity in the grid and therefore weren’t using the charging plan.

Anyway, I disconnected my car from the app with the intention of reconnecting and hoping this would reset everything back to normal.

Unfortunately I cannot reconnect my car to the app.

I get the following messages;



I have the Pod point app set to manual, but I’m just going round and round in circles.

I look forward to any suggestions or advice to get my car back on to the Octopus app.

Thank you in advance.

[Tony]

I would reach out to Octopus on Twitter, if you're on it, they were super useful and helpful in getting it working my end.

[ScottyQ4]

I’ve now switched from the ‘GO’ tariff to Intelligent. Used it twice now in the week. Noted that Octopus devise a charging plan made up what looks like 2 half hour stints, beginning and end, and a bigger middle section depending on the SOC at the start and the % chosen for it to complete the charge. On the first occasion the charging session only completed the first half hour part of the charging plan. The second attempt completed the plan but had numerous notifications saying Octopus has lost control of the charge. Any body out there with similar experiences??

[ScottyQ4]

Tried again. Octopus came up with a charging plan beginning at 1130. The charging session started but would only carry out the first designated half hour of the charging session. Octopus say that a scheduled time on the vehicle somewhere in the MMI is interrupting their planned charging schedule. I’ve searched the MMI and the only thing I can find is a toggle switch within the MMI scheduler that formerly switches on/off the charging session as to become active between 0030-0430 when I was on the GO tariff. I’ve switched this off to see if the intelligent charging will take place. Any further ideas from peoples out there???

[Tony]

Nothing in the Audi app? No home locations set in the car?

[ScottyQ4]

Ok. Just a little more info. Nothing discovered within the app re location settings that may upset Octopus. I did manage to look at the usage on the Octopus app and despite the planned charging time saying that a start would take place at 2300, the charge did not start till 0300 in the morning and was still going at 0800??? I’ve put a call into Octopus to see how much I’m being charged for this as the charge went well beyond the 0530 time. I’m reading that octopus may only charge at the cheap rate. I await their response.

[kyjuan]

I was able to set up IO with my car and my first two charges were pretty much ok; plugged the car in, charges for a couple of minutes, gets shut down by IO and i get the time slots notification. However in the last 2 weeks or so, i've tried about 3 times - no joy. The car just continues to charge at the more expensive rate (i did wait up to 30mins on one of the tries) with no IO shut downs or slots given.

After trying about 3 separate times/days with no success, i made the decision to turn off smart charging & control it myself instead; i set up a daily schedule on my wall charger to start at 11:30pm and finish 5.30am and just leave my car plugged in on days i need a charge. I've had no issues whatsoever since doing this and i think i will leave it this way until IO improves its intelligence

The intent from octopus is great and its supposed to be a win-win i.e. they select what time that benefits them the most to charge your car but not when the process is unreliable. So until the reliability is improved, i will leave it this way.

[ScottyQ4]

Ok. Just a little more info. Nothing discovered within the app re location settings that may upset Octopus. I did manage to look at the usage on the Octopus app and despite the planned charging time saying that a start would take place at 2300, the charge did not start till 0300 in the morning and was still going at 0800??? I’ve put a call into Octopus to see how much I’m being charged for this as the charge went well beyond the 0530 time. I’m reading that octopus may only charge at the cheap rate. I await their response.

Yep. I had been charged at the full rate for time spent charging the car beyond 0530 - some 2 and half hours extra. This was a time period included within the charging plan as devised by Octopus. Having pointed out to Octopus that the plan is out of the users control if using the smart charge option it seems hardly fair for the user to pay at the peak rate for this extra time . They are saying that because this is a ‘beta’ version of the app that it places the obligation on the user, ie ‘user beware’. Ummm??? As a gesture of goodwill octopus have in this instance compensated me to the tune of £5.00 which is a sum equal to the cost of the juice at the peak rate. They seem quite keen for me to retain the smart charging aspect of Intelligent Octopus Go but for me to be charged at the peak rate should an error occur. Again ummmm??? I think someone on here calculated that could amount to £200/year. No thank you??