Does the Charge Anytime App need the Ohme App to find EV

Hi ​@AGKett ,

Nope! Both apps run completely independently of each other - they won’t ever integrate anyway and there’s never been a link between the two.

If you’re struggling, give 0330 175 9678 a call or try chargeanytime@ovo.com .

A big thank you for that confirmation, I couldn't see how or why one would rely on the other. BUT OVO didn't mention deleting the Ohme account in their instructions, just turning off a number of options, whilst Ohme themselves did say delete the account.

My issue was:

1. The OVO Anytime App was being slow in seeing the EV plugged in. (Hopefully it will get faster).

2. With the Ohme App still on the phone, it was scheduling all by itself randum charging sessions which now would be at the full cost! Ohme is now gone.

Thank you again.

Hmm... I think I'll discuss this with the Forum Moderators. It may be possible to do something about that.

Thanks for the heads up 

​@AGKett a warm welcome to the OVO Forum 😁.

Thanks for your post and feedback, very helpful indeed. To let you know I’ve added an EV badge to your Forum profile so that other Forum members can recognise you.

I can see ​@Blastoise186 has given some great answers here and I hope everything’s now working smoothly following the changes. Any issues please don't hesitate to reach out to us on the Forum and, if we can’t help, our Charge Anytime team is always on hand using the contact details ​@Blastoise186 has given. 

Thank you Ben-OVO

Now you mention it, I realized yesterday, a delay in the Anytime App in taking over the charging of my EV.

With Ohme, full control of the charge was instant and you could set your time and ALL of the charge thereafter was at the 7p.

Now with the Anytime App, it has to wait for the car to communicate it's update, that it’s been plugged in, (up to 30mins, your App says) and during that time the Ohme charger is happy charging away at 3kw (my EV max) at the full electric rate which is about 39p for half an hour. That same electric through the Ohme charger would have cost just over 11p!

Now 39p doesn’t sound much on its own but, say 365 x 39p = £142.35 for me per annum.

So multiplying that up from all of the OVO EV customers, OVO are doing pretty well out of this change! 

Comments? 

It’s worth noting that the time needed to establish that communication is - as I understand it - very much dependent on the other side, such as the EV/Charger manufacturer and how good their system is. It’s not easy to fix that on OVO’s side.

The revenue also doesn’t mean pure profit either tbh. Profit margins for energy suppliers are razor thin - almost all the cash that goes in from that 39p rapidly gets swallowed by costs.

Thank you for your reply.

I can understand that it's the speed of the EV communicating or under the old system the Ohme Charger communicating that counts AND that OVO may not make much from this against Anytime App costs, network etc. BUT Ohme was so immediate that, that's 39p per day I lose or put it another way my annual energy bill has just increased by approx £142.35 pa so you'll be asking me soon to put up by direct debit by £11.86p!

I can only assume that ovo were hoping that no-one would notice.

I don’t think it’s anything intentional on OVO’s part.

But if you have concerns, definitely have a word with the Charge Anytime team as they may be able to figure something out with you. Can’t promise anything, but they’re usually open to at least having a chat.

0330 175 9678 or chargeanytime@ovo.com 

Ah! I do believe I have the answer. The EV communicates within a few minutes of being turned off and locking the doors. So, no matter what time of day, pull onto the drive, turn off, get out, plug in straight away, lock the doors. The car connects soon after. 

Don't just leave the car on the drive and plug in later as that's where the approx 30 min delay kicks in.

The even better news is that this approach ties in with OVO’s Power Move Flex scheme encouraging us all to plug in for longer.

I hope that this helps other EV drivers.

​@AGKett thanks so much for sharing that, very helpful indeed!! For sure this will help other EV / Charge Anytime users 😁

UPDATE

Well I was wrong. The Anytime App didn't connect at all tonight. I plugged it in as I was getting out of the car as I said in previous messages, and locked the car. The Ohme charger starting charging at the full rate. An hour and a half later I remembered to look…….the App had not connected. If it had, it would have gone to 80% ready for 5.30am. However, because it didn't connect, I ended up charging my EV at the FULL DAYTIME ELECTRIC COST up to 93%. This is not satisfactory!

What can I say…….. I was correct afterall, this new system is RUBBISH!

​@AGKett sorry to hear this! 

I’d definitely reaching out to the Charge Anytime team following Blastoise’s advice above:

have a word with the Charge Anytime team as they may be able to figure something out with you. Can’t promise anything, but they’re usually open to at least having a chat. 0330 175 9678 or chargeanytime@ovo.com.

Hopefully they’ll be able to help further.

I’m finding the same sort of thing with my Elroq 60, you plug it and it starts charging, then it seems to be random if Charge Anytime (and the Skoda app) even report that the car is plugged in, if it does not report the car is plugged in no charging occurs. I can use the Ohme app to max charge and then the car and Charge Anytime may detect whats going on and maybe stop the charge (and continue smart charging). But if I don’t check i.e. manage the charge myself then I get charged at the full tariff rate which is in my view not acceptable.