Intelligent Octopus

[Stinsy]

Signed up today. After a few years with the simplicity of Go Faster I’ve decided to take on a bit of additional complexity in order to get a few more cheap slots. Frankly in summer it doesn’t really matter what tariff I’m on because I don’t use much grid power however in winter I can really do with every additional cheap slot to power my A2A HP.

I’m not sure how best to “game” the system however I plugged in the evening to see how it all works and boom! I’d take that in winter!

[Joeboy]

Plugging in earlier and requesting an early ready time for the next day seems to.increase the chance of useable slots for that plug in evening. If that makes sense!

[nowty]

Its strange that most folk on IO seem to want their EV ready by the earliest time of 4.30am.

You still get the cheap slot for the house from 11:30pm to 5.30am no matter what.

And if its too complicated, disable the smart charging in the app and just use it like "Go" except its a cheaper rate for 6 hrs, its a no brainer.

[Stinsy]

I might disable the complexity for summer, then in winter plug in when the house battery is exhausted. Are Octopus OK with that or does everyone actually do the “1 smart charge a month” even in summer?

[Joeboy]

I might disable the complexity for summer, then in winter plug in when the house battery is exhausted. Are Octopus OK with that or does everyone actually do the “1 smart charge a month” even in summer?

I'm pretty sure the plug in 1 charge per month is mandatory. How much you have to charge in that 1 charge I don't know. I suspect that once Octopus send through your charging schedule for that day when you are plugged in then you are good to go regardless of power used.

[NikoV6]

The only issue I have is if I set our Zappi to Eco+ to use excess solar, the car stops charging from solar and waits for the Octopus smart charge time. Easy enough to overcome as I just tell the car to charge from the app.

Still think Octopus missed a trick with trying to make the cars work when a simpler method would have been to use the chargers. Intelligent should be err, intelligent enough to know that the charger is set for Eco+ for example and know excess solar is being used. I dont think any car is that intelligent yet??

[Stinsy]

The only issue I have is if I set our Zappi to Eco+ to use excess solar, the car stops charging from solar and waits for the Octopus smart charge time. Easy enough to overcome as I just tell the car to charge from the app.

Still think Octopus missed a trick with trying to make the cars work when a simpler method would have been to use the chargers. Intelligent should be err, intelligent enough to know that the charger is set for Eco+ for example and know excess solar is being used. I dont think any car is that intelligent yet??

Zappi integration with IO has been “coming soon” for as long as I can remember. Feels like myenergi have missed the boat. They seem to have thrown away their competitive advantage.

[nowty]

I might disable the complexity for summer, then in winter plug in when the house battery is exhausted. Are Octopus OK with that or does everyone actually do the “1 smart charge a month” even in summer?

I'm pretty sure the plug in 1 charge per month is mandatory. How much you have to charge in that 1 charge I don't know. I suspect that once Octopus send through your charging schedule for that day when you are plugged in then you are good to go regardless of power used.

The relevant T&C is copied below. I believe its more about actually de-registering (disconnecting) your car (or charger) from the APP and staying that way for 30 days. Like for example you no longer have an eligible EV and the new owner has changed the password. Last summer mine was disabled (which differs from disconnecting) for months and I'm still on it. I think the last smart charge I did was in April.

2.4.5 To be eligible for this tariff, you agree to download the Octopus Energy app and register your low carbon technology on the app. This is an ongoing requirement throughout your time on this tariff. 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.

[Joeboy]

I might disable the complexity for summer, then in winter plug in when the house battery is exhausted. Are Octopus OK with that or does everyone actually do the “1 smart charge a month” even in summer?

I'm pretty sure the plug in 1 charge per month is mandatory. How much you have to charge in that 1 charge I don't know. I suspect that once Octopus send through your charging schedule for that day when you are plugged in then you are good to go regardless of power used.

The relevant T&C is copied below. I believe its more about actually de-registering (disconnecting) your car (or charger) from the APP and staying that way for 30 days. Like for example you no longer have an eligible EV and the new owner has changed the password. Last summer mine was disabled (which differs from disconnecting) for months and I'm still on it. I think the last smart charge I did was in April.

2.4.5 To be eligible for this tariff, you agree to download the Octopus Energy app and register your low carbon technology on the app. This is an ongoing requirement throughout your time on this tariff. 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.

After the angst of getting the I5 onto IO I don't want to risk being kicked off especially as Hyundai Ioniq 5 dont seem to be listed now. With this in mind the I5 will remain at home plugged in when we go to t'other place in Turkey and No1 son can keep an eye on it and the house for our time away.

[Stinsy]

First try yesterday worked perfectly. Plugged in and got 13hrs of cheap electric.

What happens if I unplug? Does that cancel the remaining additional cheap slots?

What happens if I don't like the schedule it has set, can I make it have another think? If so how?