Charge Anytime app not talking to Renault Zoe since Ohme stopped

Hi ​@keef-2007 ,

To me this sounds like it could do with some diagnostics by the Charge Anytime team directly, so I’d suggest having a chat with them in the morning.

Try 0330 175 9678 or chargeanytime@ovo.com as they can dig the logs that way.

Worth noting though - you should be doing the scheduling purely through the Charge Anytime app, nowhere else going forward.

Hi, thanks I'll give them a try.

Fyi, there are 2 options in the Renault app. Charge instantly or custom schedule. if I leave it set to instant, that's exactly what it does and the OVO app says not connected.. The only way I can get anywhere is to stop it charging by setting a schedule in the Renault app. 

Gotcha, yeah that does seem strange…

Let me know what the team says, I’m interested to hear their thoughts...

Thanks for your helpful advice here ​@Blastoise186!

​@keef-2007 welcome to the Forum 😁. I’ve awarded your EV badge, which means other EV owners within the Forum will be able to recognise you. 

Let us know how you get on speaking to the Charge Anytime team. We’ve got a few older posts relating to Renault Zoe’s and Charge Anytime which you may find interesting, although they may not answer your question directly:

Hopefully the Charge Anytime team can get everything sorted for you quickly!

Well,

That's 2 successful charges now with the same method. Plug car in, it starts charging and OVO app says not plugged in. Open my Renault app, change to a scheduled charge, submit and save. Close the app, open it again and repeat because it won't have changed. Do this 3 times turn around click my heals together and suddenly as if by magic charging stops the OVO app is happy and the car waits for the OVO schedule. Strangely though, the times of the schedule in the Renault app change to some random times. Something tells me this is a Renault data update issue. As long as it works consistently I can live with it even though the wife thinks it hysterical. Will give OVO a call tomorrow, but when I tried on Friday the answer was unplug, wait half hour and try again, then delete app and start again.

​@keef-2007 I’m glad that the workaround is working, but it would be great if everything was working as it should 😖.

I don’t know whether you’ve ever visited the Speak EV Forum? Have a look, you might find some other useful information there: https://www.speakev.com/threads/my-renault-app-issues.191522/

The Renault contact details can be found on their website here.

If you could keep us updated on your progress we’d appreciate it!

​@keef-2007 This is the OVO app communicating the new charge times to the car via Renault's servers. However, it shouldn't be charging straight away but it might be worth seeing how long it carries on charging before it stops with the new charge times having been sent to the car.

The only way you can set the charger is dumb (always on mode). The only way you can set the car (I have a Zoe) is continuous charging and with that combination I can't see how it won't start charging as soon as you plug it in as it will take time for the new charge times to reach the car. I'm expecting that situation to not last more than a few minutes.

Peter 

Hi Peter,

Thanks for comment, I'm kind of thinking the same. A hand shake/timing issue between OVO and Renault.

I did leave about 20 minutes on Friday, but me being tight I couldn't wait any longer before starting to mess. I'm guessing that my intervention is just forcing communication between the 2 and nothing to do with actual settings. It's either that or possibly a 4g issue. The signal here isn't great, I do however see the update time in the OVO app change even when saying the car isn't plugged in. It's keeping me busy anyway.

Keith 

I have the Phase 1 Zoe (not compatible with Charge Anytime) which means I can't give you any further details on how this works in practice. I've always had problems with getting the Renault app to set timers on my car but it's never an issue switching to continuous charging so I know my comms are good.

Perhaps someone else with a Zoe / Charge Anytime has information they can add here.

Peter 

PS I went to a different tariff and use the timers in the car and I'm getting the same rate overall between my car (a bit more) and domestic usage (a bit less) but then again I've got a Heat Pump to balance the books.

Interesting.

I've got a heat pump too, and the only reason I stay with OVO is because I thought their heat pump tariff was the best around. From what I've seen it's the only one that's cheap 24 hours not just off peak. That way we can run the heat pump as designed and keep the house temp constant. Who did you move to? 

If I found a competitive tariff I'd change. It's only a matter of time before Renault stop the free data link and then I couldn't use the OVO charge anytime.

I'll send you a DM

Peter 

Latest update.

I'm now pretty sure the issue is with the timing of the updates between car, Renault and OVO.

I plugged in last, the car started charging immediately and the OVO app said car unplugged as usual. This time I waited to see what happened, and after about ten minutes bingo. Charging stopped and the oven app said next charging at 02:30. Success. It seems clunky but I accept there will always be time delays I just need to be patient.

​@keef-2007 thanks very much for posting this. Not an 100% ideal situation I know, but I’m glad it’s working, and this will help other Forum users with the same issue!

Thanks again ​@Peter E for your help with this one.