Charge Anytime - why won't it charge Mercedes 100%?

Indeed as expected the anytime app changed the max limit to 90% at 8pm and the car continued to charge until reaching that upper limit and the anytime app again changed the max to 50% to stop it from charging further.  So in essence it all works as expected.

Hey @dharvey24, 

Thanks for the feedback and letting us know that it’s working for you as expected!

Welcome to the EV community and i’ve added a new badge to your profile to let everyone know 🎉

I was told by  Indra NOT to use the Charge Aytime app and instead use the web-based Kaluza portal, in order to take advantage of the Charge Anytime £0.07 rate. I have the same issue as other EQC drivers - the car/app/something is resetting max level to 50%. Please tell me which app or portal i should use and how to charge the car to the level i want

Hi @NikB ,

If you have an Indra Charger, definitely DO NOT use the Charge Anytime app - the Kaluza web portal is definitely the one you need. Please ask the team to help you switch over: chargeanytime@ovo.com - you’ll need their help to do this.

thanks! I am already registered/connectced with the Kaluza portal, but guess what…..my account/login whatever has a “bad gateway” fault. I am already regretting going EV after having my last Merc (diesel) for 4.5 years without a single fault :(

Hi @NikB,

I’m really sorry to hear you’re experiencing this issue.

I can see that Blastoise186 has already given some good advice about this. It may be worth reaching out to the team on chargeanytime@ovo.com so they can look into this further for you. Please let us know if you have any problems getting through to them.

This thread may also be helpful:

@NikB   

Let me tell you how it works in my situation.

I have a Mercedes EQC and a standard 3 pin plug though I’m sure a wall charger wouldn’t be that different.

You connect the vehicle to the OVO anytime app. 

When I plug my car in it will likely start charging straight away – HOWEVER.

The Anytime app will indicate if you are using ‘smart’ energy i.e. low cost electricity.  If it determines its not low cost energy it will send a signal to the car to lower the maximum battery percentage to 50%.  This then shuts off the car from charging, assuming the car is above 50%.

When the app determines cheap smart electricity is available it will reset the battery percentage to what you have indicated in the app as the target % i.e. 90% etc.    It will send a signal to the car to change the max from 50% to this new number and the car will start charging.

In the app you can override this by clicking charge now however this won’t be at the discounted rate.

When it reaches your target % set in the app, say 90% it will send a signal to the car to set the max to 50%.  This shuts off the charging, as obviously you’re at 90%. 

This can be confusing as the ideal times to charge the car aren’t shown anywhere so you have to check the app each time to determine when the next cycle will start.  Equally it won’t say when the low cost period is going to end so it might only charge for a few hours in the day with the next window being in the night.

The reason why its setting the max battery percentage to 50% rather than just stopping the charge is that the Mercedes software doesn’t allow that to sent remotely by another app.  The only thing OVO anytime can do is switch the max % up and down.  Its kind of tricking the system.  Why I think the Mercedes for me in a BETA stage.

So long story short when you see the Anytime app setting the battery percentage to 50% is because its telling the car to stop charging because you’re in a window of high cost electricity.  Next time you plug it in again it will check and either start or stop the charging.  All the percentages changes are inside the anytime app.  So if you have the car set to 70% or 80% in the Mercedes app that will not be effected.  I.e. OVO can’t change the battery % in the car itself.  So if you take the car somewhere else you’re battery won’t be left at 50% max charge.

Also remember not everything happens in real time.  Its can take up to 3 mins for the app to realise whats going on and either start or stop the charge.

Thank you for the detailed reply. At least I do not feel so alone….

My situation is a little different in that I have an Indra charger which I am told is not compatible with the Charge Anytime app. (that is a massive oversight IMHO). In any case, the end result is the same. max.charging % is over-ridden to 50%

The additional problem I have is that the Mercedes Me app and and the car itself is having its charge level reset to 50% by “something”. The idea this is because the charging rate is not at its cheapest doesn’t quite fit though, because what if my car was at 40% and why has 50% been chosen? - it is an arbitrary number it seems?

What I haven’t yet tried is leaving it overnight to see if the 50% is upped once again by “something” and in fact the car does charge itself to whatever level I choose. In fact, I will do that tonight and report back….

What you’ve probably done is hooked up both the Charger AND the EV to Charge Anytime. You must disconnect one of them - preferably the EV - and leave the other active.

Bad things happen if you try to use both options at the same time.

@NikB  why the 50% level - no idea.  It should be 5% or something. 50% seems odd to me too.  In the anytime app if the car is plugged in and not charging it should say when the next cycle will start.  I was worried too that it wouldn’t do anything and then at about 8:03pm it changed to the max % to 90% and it began charging.  The problem is the times keep changing.  For my anyway.