looking at the details for our install (it is an offer included in the car purchase, they cover the basic install fee) we can probably pay the difference for octopus (the install partner) to install a hypervolt charger instead of an ohme this seems like a worth while upgrade for future flexibility!
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EV general discussion
- Thread starter Ricochet J
- Start date
This is exactly what I am wrestling with at the minute, our second hand purchase includes a "free" octopus charger install and having now dug into it a bit further it seems like we should be able to simply pay the difference to geta hypervault charger over the Ohme that is default and from what people are saying it is a worthwhile upgrade.
Pretty much that! The more I dug into it, the more I found. Lesson learnt though. Did like the car, so was a shame.
Would love to know why the mileage hasn't gone up and is for sale a whole year later. Looks like all the wheels have been refurbed this time though...in the incorrect colour.
Man of Honour
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For the love of god, don't get a OHME!! I wish I picked a Hypervolt back when I had mine fitted.
I'm exploring this ATM, as whilst I thought public charging was fine I really can't be bothered with it anymore! And, I suspect range will drop a fair bit now it's getting colder so keen for preconditioning.
Seems like the advice is to go for Hypervolt. Only £100 more or so.
I've got a BMW i4, guess they are all as awkward as each other with BMW locking charging down?
Seems like the advice is to go for Hypervolt. Only £100 more or so.
I've got a BMW i4, guess they are all as awkward as each other with BMW locking charging down?
What do you mean by this?
BMW clamped down on their API access a few months ago, which makes car integrated smart charging setups a little less 'integrated'.
Shouldn't really affect anything when you integrate the charger with the supplier rather than the car, which is where the benefit arises choosing a widely compatible charger.
As I understand it, you can't tell the charger when to charge. You have to tell the car which then requests the charge from the charger. Previously, you plug in and set your charger to charge during the cheap hours (or it would do this automatically). However now you have to set it from the car (or the app). It's probably not that much of an issue, but seems a bit clunky.
My concern is that I think it's easier for you to charge outside the cheap rates as the charger won't automatically cut off anymore like it used to.
As I understand it, you can't tell the charger when to charge. You have to tell the car which then requests the charge from the charger. Previously, you plug in and set your charger to charge during the cheap hours (or it would do this automatically). However now you have to set it from the car (or the app). It's probably not that much of an issue, but seems a bit clunky.
My concern is that I think it's easier for you to charge outside the cheap rates as the charger won't automatically cut off anymore like it used to.
With a compatible charger integrated to the supplier, the supplier tells the charger when to deliver charge and you just leave the car set to take whatever it can get. You're far less likely to find problems like this because charger companies have more interest in working with energy suppliers to produce compatible products. Car manufacturers are far less consistent when it comes to making things compatible with smart charging.
You can sometimes pair the car to the charger so the charger can see how much battery the car has left which can make things a little bit smoother too.
Not had a problem with our Ohme and IoG, however i never had it setup directly with the car it's always been the charger. Plug the car in (either BMW or Renault), tell the charger which car it is and how much charge i want to put in. Both cars are set up to charge to 100%, but that doesn't affect if i'm at 20% and add 50%, the charger stops when it's added the 50%.
This is one of those times I'm glad I've asked about something here and got the benefit of everyone else's experience otherwise I would likely have accepted the base octopus charger and not realised until it was too late! I'll definitely be looking to pay the extra for the hypervault which is on their options list so shouldn't be an issue
The hypervolt uses wifi/ethernet connection. Wifi/ethernet connection is preferable as you aren't then beholden to monthly SIM "connection" charges when the grace period finishes (aka ohme, where they'll charge £2/mth for the pleasure).
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I'd say if you are looking at a luxury SUV you shouldn't miss at least investigating the Mercedes EQE 500 SUV, or even the Porsche Macan, depending what end of the price range the BMW is at.
As for Ohme, mines never skipped a beat in almost 7 years, but maybe the newer one are crap vs the classic models. Mine always connects, integrates with Ocotopus IOG fine and the app works
To buck the trend I’ve had my ohme pro charger for just over 3 years now, apart from having some issues at first caused by a dodgy RCD I’ve not had an issue since. I’m on IOG and even though the availability of time slots have changed it always gets close to the required level even though it doesn’t fully communicate with my car.
We want something which can tow, and has a large enough boot for 2 dogs (whippets). The Macan is about the same size as our Tiguan and we know it's not quite big enough inside already. The towing part is mostly why we don't want a full BEV, due to towing limits and limited range with a caravan on the back. I can't easily unhitch a caravan to charge up at the services etc, a plug in hybrid solves this but also covers the local mileage on the battery.
The new IX3 is in consideration despite its looks, it has higher towing limits than most EVs plus higher range, but we need to go look at one first to see if the boot is big enough and to see what we think about it in the flesh. But there's long waiting times and the APR is ridiculous when other manufacturers are doing 0%.
Soldato
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my in-laws had the same issue when the installer "forgot" to order their house battery and promised to come back when it came in ...then went bust. the replacement company increased the cost by a grand and then put vat on top!
but i meant was any charge point vat free IF they had it installed at the same time or only the 1 specific brand.
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I'd reference @b0rn2sk8 for caravan knowledge, I think the EQE 4MATIC does 1800Kg braked, also no issues for dog carrying. Do you take the caravan away loads of times per year? I'd imagine if you are doing 400 miles+ to a site 5 times a year that might get annoying.
We don't have one yet, the plan is to hire one next spring and go from there. If we don't like it, a hitch is still useful in case I ever end up buying another track car.
I'll check the EQE out.