EV and OVO Charge Anytime

Cheeky_chimp

I was hoping someone may be able to offer me some advice please, consumer or perhaps a recommend an alternative supplier. 

Back in March I invested in a Vauxhall Electric Vehicle, and I wanted to get a home charger installed for it.  I looked on my suppliers website (OVO) and I did a very long winded home survey which they then provided me with a quote for the supply and install of an Ohme Home Pro.  I had done some homework before hand and queried with them if my car would be suitable for their EV tariff of Charge Anytime as my vehicle was not listed on their website, however I was told that either the EV or the Charger needed to be compatible, both didnt need to be, so I was contempt at ordering the Charger from them at a cost of £964 including the install.  To date it has been working great and I have no complaints.. 

Skip forward 3 months and I receive today an email from Ohme, and consequentially OVO as well basically saying that OVO will no longer support Ohme chargers on their Charge Anytime from the 15th July 2025.  If my electric vehicle was compatible with their Charge Anytime app then I could connect it directly, however it seems they do not support any Vauxhall EVs.  So they are saying that after the 15th July 2025 I will go from being charged 7p kwh to the standard house rate, which I think is 24 point something pence per kwh.  So this has annoyed me greatly. 

Have I been mis-sold a Charger from them under the proviso it was compatible when I purchased it. 

Should they offer me an alternative charger that is now compatible? 

And believe it or not their only other advise to me was to switch suppliers, so can anyone recommend an alternative supplier with a good EV tariff, hopefully not Octopus, previous beef with them makes me reluctant to consider them.   

QrizB

Intelligent Octopus Go is 7p/kWh and is compatible with Ohme chargers.

Cheeky_chimp said:

... so can anyone recommend an alternative supplier with a good EV tariff, hopefully not Octopus, previous beef with them makes me reluctant to consider them.   

Ah.

In that case, maybe EON Next Drive?

NorthEastLight

Also consider EDF GoElectric if your charging usage can cope with the shorter 5 hour window vs Eon next drive's 7 hours .

EDF's cheap unit rate is higher at 9p, but its day rate is more competitive than others - at least for my region. In fact its regularly been cheaper than the EDF single rate fix.

My day use savings more than offset the slightly higher night rate vs other suppliers.

Unlike Ovo, EDF & Eon are whole house cheap rates. The EDF EV quote page will ask your annual mileage to estimate cheap rate use at 3.5miles/kwh but assumes nil overnight house use. Up your mileage to include overnight house use for more accurate annual cost.

Scot_39

You could try asking for compensation - but I suspect they could well have inserted a suitable condition to protect themselves.

You are not the fist to fall foul of compatibility changes - I seem to remember Ford owners have already been through something similar in recent years - a couple of Xmas ago springs to mind - was it with Octopus intelligent go - maybe others too  ?

As above - just walkaway if they don't play ball - and hopefully move to a supplier you find who will.

Reed_Richards

I have a Vauxhall EV.  It allows me to schedule a start time for charging but not a stop time nor a stop state-of-charge.  That's incredibly primitive and no wonder it's not compatible with any of these smart charging tariffs.  I get on very well with the Eon NextDrive tariff which gives you 7 hours of overnight charging at less than 7p per kWh.  My vehicle has a 50 kWh battery so 7 hours at 7 kW will fully charge that battery.  Unless you work nights, this should be all you need.

But if you want to stick with OVO, I agree that they ought to replace your charger with a compatible one.  Whether you will persuade them to do that is another matter.  

silvercar

I suspect the most OVO will do is to allow you to leave penalty free.

Lots of complaints about this issue in relevant facebook groups.

Stuey1983

I called OVO, and they are allowing me to leave penalty free as I’m in the position.