Octopus Intelligent Go 6 hour changes being rolled out.

_Sam_

Far better to export solar & not charge car with it.

IOG gives you 12p export, but charging is far less than 12p (hard to say exactly, as many seem to have different prices now). = MSE bonus as you are making a profit. 👍

Not if 6hrs allowance is limiting for the user.

Then you have 6hrs charge at off-peak rate, plus you’d want as many hrs as possible to charge from solar rather than paying peak rate.

_Sam_

It isn't quite as binary as that, each dispatch has a start and end that Octopus will know about, that could be the full 30 mins or it could be a lot less, they just can't determine how much grid power was used during that dispatch period vs the HH that is reported, so if there was any then the dispatch period will be deducted from the 6 hour allowance.

Sorry don’t understand what you’re saying. From what I see Octopus either

1. bills me for the amount consumed during the 10min and ticks off 10min out of my 6hrs off-peak price allowance (so I have 5hrs and 50min remaining to charge at the off-peak rate), or
2. bills me for the amount consumed during the 10min and ticks off 30min out of my 6hrs off-peak price allowance (so I have 5hrs and 30min remaining to charge at the off-peak rate)

Are you saying there is a third option?

QrizB

Can we just get back to fundamentals here. You're suggesting:

Then you have 6hrs charge at off-peak rate, plus you’d want as many hrs as possible to charge from solar rather than paying peak rate.

But you can't force the car to charge from solar on a smart charging slot; it needs Octopus to assign a smart slot that just happens to occur during the daytime when your PV is producing power.

For example, Octopus gave me two charging slots this afternoon. There were patchy clounds so my PV output was intermittent but, for example, between 1430-1500 I only imported ~2.1kWh rather than the ~3.7kWh that was added to my car.

If you're going to force charging during a surplus of PV, you're using boost charging and this is all moot?

_Sam_

It’s not about forcing the smart charge, it is the opposite - when charging from solar triggers Octopus to give you an off-peak smart charge period.

I wouldn’t want Octopus do this if it means ‘eating’ into the 6hrs allowance in such a disproportionate way. So the only option I see would be to switch off smart charging when charging from solar.

If you're going to force charging during a surplus of PV, you're using boost charging and this is all moot?

In Zappi there is no need to use boost charging for solar charge. It is just plug in and choose Eco+ and the charger will start supplying what solar power is available. And it is the same mode that triggers Octopus to give you an off-peak period (if they see fit)

QrizB

I wouldn’t want Octopus do this if it means ‘eating’ into the 6hrs allowance in such a disproportionate way. So the only option I see would be to switch off smart charging when charging from solar.

Probably the best option here, agreed.

I don't know how Myenergi implement solar charging, but Ohme will start a solar charging session if you're exporting at least 720 watts. As the slowest EV charging rate is 6 amps (1400 watts or so) this would mean you could use up a 30-minute slot and only add a trivial amount of energy to your EV.

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81997832#Comment_81997832

With the Zappi you can choose the level of export and the degree to which it will use grid energy to allow charging to continue during clouds etc. but whatever you set it to, if you allow solar charging to happen it will draw a small amount from the grid as it comes to a stop.

So in my case I have set the minimum export above the maximum output of my array to avoid any chance of solar charging taking place.

It is going to be harder for those who want solar charging to happen while a smart charging session is in progress as some grid use is almost inevitable unless there is a completely cloudless sky.

Also I'm not sure I understood this bit in Sam's last post:

It’s not about forcing the smart charge, it is the opposite - when charging from solar triggers Octopus to give you an off-peak smart charge period.

The fact that you are charging from solar should not in itself cause a smart charging dispatch to be created, but if you have not turned off smart charging then of course IOG can decide to create a dispatch, the two are not directly linked.

_Sam_

The fact that you are charging from solar should not in itself cause a smart charging dispatch to be created, but if you have not turned off smart charging then of course IOG can decide to create a dispatch, the two are not directly linked.

It is because Eco+ which is the most optimal mode for solar charging is also the mode that Octopus uses to set the smart charge period.

In other words every time Zappi is set to Eco+ and the car is plugged in, Octopus creates a smart charging schedule. What varies are the details of that schedule (so the smart period can be set by Octopus to commence immediately or at a later time).

That is why to avoid wasting the 6hrs allowance over a handful of minutes the car would pull from the grid during the solar charge (in case Octopus gives you a schedule to coincide with the solar charging) the only option seems to be to disable smart charging if planning to charge from solar.

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998106#Comment_81998106

It is not just the 'only option' it is the correct choice.

If you don't want a smart charging schedule then don't ask for one, just turn off smart charging and there is no problem…

_Sam_

It is not just the 'only option' it is the correct choice.

If you don't want a smart charging schedule then don't ask for one, just turn off smart charging and there is no problem…

Im sorry, this is not helpful. I did not say there was a problem. I asked whether Octopus clarified anywhere how much time would they deduct from the 6hrs allowance when during the smart charge instead of importing ‘absolutely nothing’ from the grid the car imports but only for a few minutes out of the standard 30min period, with remaining time the charge coming from the solar.

I do want a smart charge, that is the reason I signed up for the Intelligent tariff. And I don’t want to have to switch the smart charging on and off every time there is an opportunity to charge from solar. The ‘correct choice’ to me would be to leave the smart charge capability on.

However if the Octopus approach is to deduct the entire 30min from the 6hrs allowance even in cases where the car charged from the grid for only a few minutes out of that 30min period, then the only option is to switch off the smart charging when there is an opportunity to charge from solar, unless the user doesn’t mind spending their 6hrs allowance in such a disproportionate way.

MeteredOut

From reports I've read, if a smart charge starts or stops during a 30 minute slot, then only the period of charging in that 30 minute slot counts towards the 6 hours limit, but the whole 30 minute slot will be at the reduced rate.

This is for cases when less than 6 hours smart charging is provided in the midday-to-midday period.

Is anyone here on the IOG App beta with the 6 hour limit changes, and the button to stop after 6 hours? The app still shows plugged in time (rather than charging time), and I've been trying to find out if the beta app shows charging time, but no-one has been able to confirm that. I'm still sceptical that Octopus can get that from all car integrations.