Greener Days EV Charging Octopoints

Exiled_Tyke

born_again said:

Pretty sure it stops once car has finished charging. But never really checked that.

I've always assumed that as billing works in half hour slots you would get the cheap rate until the end of the slot in which the car finished charging. So if the charge is completed at say five past the hour the cheap rate will continue until half past.  

Magnitio

Exiled_Tyke said:

born_again said:

Pretty sure it stops once car has finished charging. But never really checked that.

I've always assumed that as billing works in half hour slots you would get the cheap rate until the end of the slot in which the car finished charging. So if the charge is completed at say five past the hour the cheap rate will continue until half past.  

Also, if you plug in and it gives you a charging slot starting at 7:55, the cheap rate starts at 7:30.

Exiled_Tyke

Magnitio said:

Exiled_Tyke said:

born_again said:

Pretty sure it stops once car has finished charging. But never really checked that.

I've always assumed that as billing works in half hour slots you would get the cheap rate until the end of the slot in which the car finished charging. So if the charge is completed at say five past the hour the cheap rate will continue until half past.  

Also, if you plug in and it gives you a charging slot starting at 7:55, the cheap rate starts at 7:30.

The only time I've had a slot that didn't start on the half hour was when I've plugged in and it's gone for an immediate start.  Therefore I've already missed the opportunity to plan some usage in that time slot. 

SuzeQStan

Wish I’d known how this worked sooner - plugged in on lunch break and was offered 3 separate charging slots over course of the day.

Solarchaser

Definitely the slots exist if you don't actually use them.
When I plug in it will say for instance 20:30-21:00, but generally I only let my charger run between 23:30 and 05:30 and so i don't actually use that slot, but when the bill comes i can see the depression in the bill.

Like this 

yebaws

Please don't do this guys. It's not what IOG is designed for. Octopus class it as abusing the system and say that they may withdraw the tarriff from you if you "game" it. Worst of all, they may drop it entirely if too many people do it. Besides, you're deliberately loading the grid at peak times, requiring more electricity from fossil fuels.

Alzire

I've thought about this a fair bit.  I think Octopus are pretty good and I'd like to stay within the guidelines.  But surely this is fair enough.  I'm assuming that if Octopus don't want you to charge then they shouldn't offer the slots (or that is how they should run IO).  If you need to charge during the day and there are no slots available then use the bump charge option or wait until overnight.  If Octopus do give you a slot then that slot is beneficial to their objective of balancing the grid.  However, if their systems are not that 'intelligent' then they should clearly state what the acceptable use parameters are.

I thought gaming the system was referring to users who deliberately charge using a slow charge to extend their charging window?

QrizB

I must confess this confuses me too.

Sometimes we come home around 4pm, plug the car in and ask to have it charged by 8am (our usual time). IO might then decide that the best time is from 8pm to midnight, ignoring the usual overnight slots. I can't explain it but I also don't have any reason to think I'm abusing it.

(The above timings are indicative, I'd need to dig out a bill to give a solid example.)

born_again

yebaws said:

Please don't do this guys. It's not what IOG is designed for. Octopus class it as abusing the system and say that they may withdraw the tarriff from you if you "game" it. Worst of all, they may drop it entirely if too many people do it. Besides, you're deliberately loading the grid at peak times, requiring more electricity from fossil fuels.

Sorry but you are wrong there.
Octopus only give daytime slots when there is spare grid capacity.
Or such as below it would not stop @ 15:00 till 17:00 on cheap rate.

Octopus changed settings in OHME app so that Dynamic charging & no cost cap were set as a default. As people were setting a cost cap & turning off dynamic charging. Which was against the T/C of giving Octopus control.

Which is the whole point of the Intelligent tariff. Which gives Octopus total control over your charging. 
So this is not abusing the system. It is working with Octopus to use the grid to the best of their ability.

https://octopus.energy/policies/smart-tariffs-terms-and-condition/#intelligentoctopus

2.4.1.3 The Intelligent Octopus Go tariff is for customers with a battery electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid vehicle that charges primarily at the home that we supply. Any electricity used by the vehicle according to the Intelligent Octopus Go schedule plus any other electricity used in your home during off-peak hours will be charged at the night rate.

2.4.1.4 If we schedule your electric vehicle to charge outside of the off-peak hours, we will apply the night rate for your EV charging and any underlying household usage will be charged in the relevant half hour billing periods.

2.4.1.7 You must record your operating preferences in the Octopus Energy app, for example what time you need your electric vehicle ready in the morning and how much energy you would like to add to your vehicle. We'll take your operating preferences into account first and optimise your energy use around that. If it's not possible to charge your car by the time you specify (for example, because the connector capacity is not sufficient for a full charge or because your preferences are updated on too short notice for a full charge) we'll notify you and try to charge as much as possible in the time available.

2.4.1.8 Intelligent Octopus Go is subject to a fair use policy with a maximum of six hours of managed charging per 24 hours. Should your charging schedule request more than six hours per 24 hours, we reserve the right to charge any incremental usage above six hours at the day rate.

QrizB

born_again said:

yebaws said:

Please don't do this guys. It's not what IOG is designed for. Octopus class it as abusing the system and say that they may withdraw the tarriff from you if you "game" it. Worst of all, they may drop it entirely if too many people do it. Besides, you're deliberately loading the grid at peak times, requiring more electricity from fossil fuels.

Sorry but you are wrong there.
Octopus only give daytime slots when there is spare grid capacity.
Octopus changed settings in OHME app so that Dynamic charging & no cost cap were set as a default. As people were setting a cost cap & turning off dynamic charging. Which was against the T/C of giving Octopus control.
Which is the whole point of the Intelligent tariff. Which gives Octopus total control over your charging. So this is not abusing the system. It is working with Octopus to use the grid to the best of their ability.

That ties in with my experience; my charger is an Ohme, and it only charges when IOG asks it to.