Intelligent Octopus Go - EV Charging Schedules good, but being charged at peak rate

RhythMick
RhythMick Posts: 2 Newbie
First Post
Hi. I'm on 3-phase supply so it's taken me a while to get a smart meter installed at home, in fact I gave up on British Gas (who kept sending single phase engineers) and moved to Octopus who sorted it quickly. It's a Kaifa meter which I've read means the Octopus Home Mini won't work, so no live readings but I can see usage on the website.

I've moved to Intelligent Octopus Go, linked my Zappi charger up and it's working fine. Plugging my car in results in a new charging schedule on the Octopus app, giving me the charge I need by the time I need it.

The only problem is that checking my usage on the website shows the charges which Octopus scheduled correctly, but it shows them charged at the peak rate. The Octopus tariff details state that if Octopus schedules a charge during peak hours it will be charged at the off-peak rate.

I've emailed customer services to ask for an explanation. Anyone have any experience with this ? I'm not keen on the idea of checking that every charge has been charged correctly after the fact - I'm tempted to move on to the simpler Octopus Go and just controlling the scheduling myself.

Comments

  • MWT
    MWT Posts: 9,892 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    RhythMick said:
    The only problem is that checking my usage on the website shows the charges which Octopus scheduled correctly, but it shows them charged at the peak rate. The Octopus tariff details state that if Octopus schedules a charge during peak hours it will be charged at the off-peak rate.
    It usually takes a few days to update the website with the correct billing, are you giving it enough time to do that?
  • RhythMick
    RhythMick Posts: 2 Newbie
    First Post
    MWT said:
    RhythMick said:
    The only problem is that checking my usage on the website shows the charges which Octopus scheduled correctly, but it shows them charged at the peak rate. The Octopus tariff details state that if Octopus schedules a charge during peak hours it will be charged at the off-peak rate.
    It usually takes a few days to update the website with the correct billing, are you giving it enough time to do that?
    No I'm not - I was checking on yesterday's data. So today (25th March) I'm looking at data for 24th and it's showing smart charging events at standard rate. If as you say it subsequently changes I'll watch for that thanks.

    Actually yes if I now look at data for 23rd it shows smart charging events at off peak interspersed with peak periods. Yesterday they were all shown as peak.

    So it must be as you say, they are at some point updated to reflect the smart changing events at off peak rates. OK thanks for that.
  • Keep_pedalling
    Keep_pedalling Posts: 20,122 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    It should sort it self out eventually and appear correct on the bills. There is no need to swop to Go, if you are worried about going into peak time just plug in the evening at set the ready time to 5;30. 

    Are you using 3 phase charging or single phase?
  • born_again
    born_again Posts: 19,429 Forumite
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    Just wait till you get your monthly bill. If wrong on there, then contact Octopus.
    Life in the slow lane
  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 16,533 Forumite
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    edited 25 March at 9:08PM
    I've got IOG and while both website and app will happily tell me how many kWh I've used in a day/week/month, if I ask for costs it tells me it can't give that info because it doesn't know what tariff applies to each 30 minutes.
    I only get accurate cost info when I get my bill.
    So I agree with everyone else that it sounds like your account is still catching up with the change.
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 33MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
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  • Peter999_2
    Peter999_2 Posts: 1,237 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    QrizB said:
    I've got IOG and while both website and app will happily tell me how many kWh I've used in a day/week/month, if I ask for costs it tells me it can't give that info because it doesn't know what tariff applies to each 30 minutes.
    I only get accurate cost info when I get my bill.
    So I agree with everyone else that it sounds like your account is still catching up with the change.
    My parents are on IOG and get the same as you in that it won't show the costs.

    However, I am on Agile and surprisingly they do show the cost of the electric the next day - even though the cost changes if different for each 30 minutes.
  • armith
    armith Posts: 105 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Yes, it all seems to work, which is good - but it would be nice to know for definite the current rate. Recently I've been getting some weird charging slots allocated to me - things like 21:39 - 22:00. Does this mean the whole 21:30 to 22:00 slot is at 7p? I presume so, and I'll see when the bill arrives next week - but it would be good if the Octopus Home Mini (for example) could somehow say "you are currently paying 7p per KwH"!
  • MeteredOut
    MeteredOut Posts: 2,773 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    armith said:
    Yes, it all seems to work, which is good - but it would be nice to know for definite the current rate. Recently I've been getting some weird charging slots allocated to me - things like 21:39 - 22:00. Does this mean the whole 21:30 to 22:00 slot is at 7p? I presume so, and I'll see when the bill arrives next week - but it would be good if the Octopus Home Mini (for example) could somehow say "you are currently paying 7p per KwH"!
    Yes, whole 30 minute slot will be 7p, since the meter only sends readings every 30 minutes and they wouldn't be able to differentiate usage between 21:30-21:39 and 21:30-22:00
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