With energy prices as they are, do you reckon these utility companies will be douchebags and drop the SEG pricing?
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EV general discussion
- Thread starter Ricochet J
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Soldato
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i doubt they will this winter... but next spring ... possibly.
Yep definitely then
I looked at battery but the economics only worked out with solar which we don’t have enough roof for as we have dormers, or if you can benefit from a 7p overnight rate for a good number of years which I wasn’t prepared to gamble on
Hi all, bit of a cross post from the Solar thread. We don't currently have an EV, but we will likely be getting one in the future (hybrid or full EV). We're having solar/battery installed in about 6 weeks, and the installer said we can get an EV charger VAT free by going through them, it's working out around £5-600. The inverter/battery is going to be Fox, and they've recommended a Fox charger to get better control. But having read up, the Fox charger is not compatible with Octopus, and I'd have to buy an EV which would be compatible. Whilst the main car we're looking at is compatible (X5 50e), other cars we are considering are not (RRS), and I don't really want to be limited on choice of car due to the charger we have. Furthermore, there's nothing to say that BMW as an example don't lock their APIs which I believe is something Land Rover did. Switching supplier is one option, but I've had such atrocious service from other suppliers in the past it's something I'm reluctant to do.
The installer has said we can also get other brands if we wish (Hypervolt, Zappi, Ohme). I'm new to all this, so I'm just trying to understand what would be best overall. I'm leaning towards Ohme, but then I need to figure out how to stop the charger and inverter from fighting with each other. Is this something Home Assistant can help with? Am I overthinking this?
The installer has said we can also get other brands if we wish (Hypervolt, Zappi, Ohme). I'm new to all this, so I'm just trying to understand what would be best overall. I'm leaning towards Ohme, but then I need to figure out how to stop the charger and inverter from fighting with each other. Is this something Home Assistant can help with? Am I overthinking this?
I think BMW already have done this and so you have to manage BMW group cars differently on IOG now if you integrate with the car rather than the charger.
This worked OK but i'm not sure how this now ties in with the 6 hour cap Octopus enforce for smart charging and whether you simply have to manage this yourself by never requesting an amount of charge that would take more than 6 hours to deliver.
If I were you, as someone with an Ohme Home Pro, i'd probably get a Hypervolt or a Zappi
Edit - as for stopping them all fighting, I think someone linked a wiring/setup diagram earlier but it's possible to wire the charger in so that the battery is effectively blind to it, so the charger wouldn't ever drain the battery, which seems to be most people's preference.
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Thanks. Do you not like the Ohme then?I think BMW already have done this and so you have to manage BMW group cars differently on IOG now if you integrate with the car rather than the charger.
This worked OK but i'm not sure how this now ties in with the 6 hour cap Octopus enforce for smart charging and whether you simply have to manage this yourself by never requesting an amount of charge that would take more than 6 hours to deliver.
If I were you, as someone with an Ohme Home Pro, i'd probably get a Hypervolt or a Zappi
It was OK until they fell out with my preferred supplier and now it's just a very expensive dumb box. They're a bit more picky than others about how they want their charger system to integrate with suppliers, so personally I wouldn't trust they'll always maintain long term compatibility with as many suppliers.
It also works off a SIM rather than WiFi, which can be limiting for some people and whilst they don't appear to enforce it, I think their T&Cs say they 'could' charge for the SIM connection after three years.
Hypervolt just works
It also connects via your internet (WiFi or ethernet) so no issues with SIM cards and poor service or paying to connect after a certain number of years
I have hypervolt and can recommend
Also, you don't need to have the EV charger the same brand as the rest of your solar setup.
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Soldato
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Seems the Home Pro is the issue, my original Home is going strong 5.5 years in.
I think if overnight tariff you can just treat the charger as sperate really, some will do solar excess into the car but, a) is the car home? b) why do that when you can export at 13p or whatever and charge the car over night at 8p.
I think if overnight tariff you can just treat the charger as sperate really, some will do solar excess into the car but, a) is the car home? b) why do that when you can export at 13p or whatever and charge the car over night at 8p.
Soldato
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So had a text from Tesla to arrange a collection date. Log in to the app and says no slots available 
Hopefully I get a call soon to arrange one. Not long now hopefully!
Hopefully I get a call soon to arrange one. Not long now hopefully!
Soldato
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so will any charge point be vat free? personally i would only get a charge point which was compatible with an intelligent EV charging tariff. this doesn't have to be octopus others have their own.
but that said...... i wouldn't bother until you get the car unless it is coming in the very short term.
depending on where you buy your car from they may even thrown in a charge point. I know when I got my ipace ... had i got it from a pain dealer they would have chucked in a free one... but even if not... no point having the warranty ticking away on a charge point or risking having an obsolete unit by the time you need it imo.
(in the end in didn't get from a dealer .. tho looking back I probably should have as the extra warranty and the charge point would have covered any premium I would have needed to pay) Even IF your car is compatible .. it's better to use your charge point
.that way you can charge multiple cars using smart charging, it puts less strain on your 12v car battery as octopus/whoever don't continually need to communicate with your car sometimes preventing it going into sleep mode and also when I had it tied to my car when I plugged it in I would get anything up to 10mins of charging before octopus took control. this 10mins was charged at full price. this may not sound much but it adds up and doesn't happen if tied to the charge point.
yes you can mitigate it but it's extra hassle
when you have your solar system installed (or will it be your charge point i am not certain) ask them to fit the CT clamp so that when you get the charge point installed car charging will be separate and not flatten the battery . if you don't do that then you will have to set a schedule up so your battery charges when your car charges... which is easy for "dumb" off peak charging but a pita for intelligent systems (then you are looking at home assistant.
I can't knock my zappi charge point .... tho admittedly it's not a looker!
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the charger + install will only be VAT-free if it is installed at the same time as the solar panels and on the same invoice
otherwise the charger + installation will attact VAT
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Would you still move to EDF if you couldn't have the intelligent charging bolt on? It looks like neither my car or charger are compatible!
you can still use the EV tariff, for the overnight off-peak charging
you just don't get the £5 monthly bonus without the intelligent charging
Yep, if the rates are still better than what you're being offered elsewhere. You also get the longest (IIRC) overnight off peak time of all the suppliers.
Power Network finally came out to re-secure my board in the meter cupboard so I could have my smart meter fitted. Two guys 20 seconds of work, spent more time talking about why in hell the meter installer could put two self taping screws into a back board. Another step closer to getting my charging point fitted 
Thanks all, lots to take in. Leaning toward Hypervolt. While dealers do offer free fitting, often it's limited to whatever brand they want you to have, and we're going to buy used so not sure we'd be open to the same sort of deals. I also don't want to be in a position where we find the right 50e/RRS hybrid, and we don't have any charger already installed.