Indra Lux charger advisory for 4G connectivity

IIRC most of the £200 goes towards a mobile data plan that only lasts three years. You can probably either just renew it or have the module swapped for a Wi-Fi or Ethernet one.

But for those that rely on 4g connectivity you can’t use Ethernet or WiFi (as in my case). Indra confirmed that the 4g fob would simply stop working and it can’t be replaced with a non- Indra fob …madness. Nexblue is the other choice and contains an eSIM as standard so switching to that.

I will ask them in the morning about that. Please bear with me.

I’ve had a word with Indra - they’ve asked for anyone affected to get in touch directly so they can assist further. They’ll discuss options to resolve this where possible. https://indra.co.uk/contact 

​@WileyC thanks for flagging this - very helpful, and ​@Blastoise186 thank you for reaching out to Indra.

​@WileyC if you do contact Indra about this please could you let us know what options they give to resolve this?

India’s recommendation was to connect via home WiFi. Not very helpful as why would I shell out £200 for a 4g dongle if I could access home WiFi. If the charger will truly stop being able to connect to the internet in 3 years why would anyone go down that route other than as a short term solution.

The reason would be if the charger is too far away from the router or the signal is weak because of intervening stone walls in older properties. Indra chargers do also have an ethernet connection and you can get supply cables with a built in Cat5E so you only have to install the one cable.

Peter 

I get you can install ethernet but if you don’t want to or it’s difficult or undesirable to do so (think apartment blocks with shared access space that is far away from the actual flat) you should have the choice to use 4g and that capability should not expire in 3 years.

I’ve checked with Indra again.

If you’re unable to use any method other than 4G, they DO have a method to renew the mobile data subscription and refresh the existing dongle. If you need this, call them directly and they’ll sort it out for you.

Mention this thread and the fact a manager has confirmed the above and that should get past any issues.

Ok thanks for that. I asked the same question and it was a flat no..the charger would stop communicating with the internet. I will message them again to see the costs involved.

Hehehe, sometimes it’s not about what you know, but who you know. :)

I’m on good terms with Indra these days. Didn’t take me long to get that answer.

Thanks again for your help ​@Blastoise186! ​@WileyC let us know how you get on when you speak to them again.

The message isn't getting through...this just back (un-edited) from Indra.

We are not at the stage of remotely reactivating SIMS currently, but this may be possible in the near future.

At this stage, a new physical dongle would need to be installed.

Just tagging ​@Blastoise186 here so they don’t miss this message, I’m sorry ​@WileyC that sounds very frustrating.

​@WileyC

I've added this link from my other forum to see if it's any help to you. Somewhat technical in places but you may be able to get something from it. It's very recent.

https://www.speakev.com/threads/usb-wifi-dongles-for-indra-smart-pro.192549/

Peter 

Just a follow on. Indra LUX charger now installed using 4g dongle but constantly goes offline and doesn’t come back online. Before anyone asks the 4G network signal near the charger is 4 bars and if it was just a temporary loss of signal the charger would come back online when signal was restored. It’s been up for as long as 4 days but can also lose connectivity in a day. Called Indra and they have reset the dongle remotely so let’s see if that improves reliability. 

​@WileyC thanks so much for updating us. I’m sorry to hear it wasn’t an immediate fix, that’s so frustrating!!

I’ve got my fingers crossed for you, let us know if resetting the dongle does the job.

Brief update. The dongle reset seems to have worked and the charger has been up for over a week now and am able to charge via Ovo Charge Anytime. 

​@WileyC amazing news! Thanks so much for updating us as well - much appreciated. I hope you have a nice weekend 😀.

Frustrated with Indra charger issues, long delays, and being left out of pocket

I’m honestly at the end of my tether with this.

For a while my Indra charger has had on-and-off issues where it would go offline and I’d need to power cycle it. It’s running off the cellular box provided at installation. About 5–6 weeks ago, though, it went offline completely and has never come back.

I contacted Indra straight away and was told that the cellular modules are being discontinued because they’re unreliable and causing connection problems with partner apps like OVO Charge Anytime. Basically, without a decent connection the charger won’t talk to Charge Anytime, so you’re stuck on “waiting for your next charge”. I was told I’d get a new Wi-Fi module sent out, and an engineer would be in touch the following week to install it.

Fair enough — I could live with using boost mode for a couple of weeks, even if it meant missing out on Charge Anytime credits.

But here I am four weeks later: no Wi-Fi module, no engineer, and all my emails ignored (other than the usual automated “someone will be in touch within 24 hours” messages). In the meantime, I’ve had to pay £40.42 for my charging (139.2 kWh) when it should have cost closer to £10–15 on Charge Anytime rates. That’s money straight out of my pocket because of a fault that isn’t mine.

I rang again recently and was lucky enough to get through to someone helpful, who chased it directly and confirmed the part will now be dispatched and an engineer should call next week. That’s fine, but it still means waiting at least another 1–2 weeks before this is actually fixed.

So in total, I’ll have waited 6–7 weeks for something that should reasonably have been sorted in 2. Meanwhile, I’m paying full whack on electricity because my charger was fitted with equipment Indra now admits isn’t fit for purpose.

Surely, given this situation, I should be entitled to some form of compensation. If Indra know these cellular modules aren’t reliable — and are in fact discontinuing them — why haven’t they been more proactive in swapping them out before people like me get left high and dry?

I feel like this is one for the Consumer Ombudsman if this doesn’t get resolved.

Hi ​@cfurlong2001,

I am so, so glad you have posted this and can completely relate to everything you have said. I too am frustrated beyond words with Indra and am at the end of my tether too, to the point where only this week I did a bit of digging around and Googling to get the email addresses of the CEO and a couple of other senior management people and sent them a formal complaint email.

Funnily enough I then received an email and phone call the same day to outline a supposed action plan to try and resolve my problems.

I don’t want to hijack your thread, ​@cfurlong2001, as my problems sounds a little different to yours in that I have still been able to charge my car at night, just not from solar generation from my solar panels. But the general theme is the same - slow, poor, inadequate responses, denial of any problem their end of things, refusal to accept responsibility that their software is in any way to blame, useless and irrelevant ‘advice’, repetition of requests for info that I have already given them, repetition of ‘suggestions’ to remedy the problem that I have already done, eg, doing a whole reboot of the system.

Like you, I feel I am out of pocket as I have missed out on 4 peak months of charging my car purely from solar as I was able to do last summer. This has been like this for me since middle of June, things have never been the same since the whole software update thing in May to make things compatible with the OVO ChargeAnytime app.

Interesting that you have been told by Indra the Smart Pro charger is being discontinued as unreliable (have I understood that correctly?) - they have never told me that and are refusing to send an engineer for a site visit as they say they can get all the data they need from looking at the logs of my usage.

I am waiting to hear back next week (supposedly) when they have done a bit more looking into it.

Just to add, that I have also had UKPN look into the voltage coming in to my property as Indra advised, and according to UKPN the voltage is within their normal safe working range and the problem is with Indra’s software, which they are refusing to accept.

Please come back with any update, ​@cfurlong2001, I share your frustration!

Jasmin

Good morning ​@cfurlong2001 and welcome to the OVO Forum. Just to let you know I’ve applied the EV badge to your account - it makes it easier for others to recognise the kit you own which can make it quicker to get help with these sort of queries.

I’m so sorry to hear of what’s happened here - I know I’d be incredibly frustrated were I in your position, and same for you as well ​@Jasmin10. 

​@Jasmin10 has raised a good point here with contacting the CEO’s email - I’ve done this many times myself when I have complaints - doesn’t always work but sometimes can get a quicker answer. I think in your position I’d be requesting compensation for the amount of money lost through these issues. My advice would be to be persistent, as tiring as it is. I’ve no idea what their complaints process is, however I shouldn't think they’d be able to ignore your complaints. I hope you both get a good result from them soon. We’ve seen similar complaints recently:

Please do keep us updated as to how you both get on - wishing you the best of luck with getting the complaints resolved.

Just to mention…

I’ve spoken to Indra directly and shared this thread with my contacts there. Indra has asked me to mention that while they do still offer and support the 4G option, they prefer to avoid recommending it where possible - Ethernet is their strongest preference, followed by Wi-Fi and then 4G.

They still do offer the 4G option, but are only willing to recommend it in cases where nothing else is possible. They’re not keen to recommend it if you’re in a position to use Wi-Fi/Ethernet.

Wi-Fi is the current default option - all their units come with that by default.

​@Jasmin10, yes you may have read that incorrectly. So they didn’t tell me that the Smart PRO charger is being discontinued but they said that they are stopping support/discontinuing the cellular (4G) modules for their chargers because of the instabilities that they have been having.

Ever since the charger stopped connecting to the internet a while ago I had got in touch with them a few months ago and they assigned the new update to my charger and then it was working again briefly but ever since then the connections been intermittent. Then OVO updated their app and it’s no longer on the Charge Anytime app but the OVO Charge app which looks like it was readiness for the new EV Charging subscription that they announced a few days ago.

Then about 4-5 weeks ago my charger disconnected again, I called up with the current technical issue raised about my charger not connecting despite power cycles and they said that they will switch out my cellular module for a new WIFI one that I can connect my charger to my home network. 

But because of the cellular issue’s that I am having, the Indra Charger’s connection to the internet is too weak for OVO’s app to kick in and it’s always stuck on “waiting for your next charge” and I’ve had several occasions where I’ve trusted that the app will start charging throughout the night and be ready for the set time to go to my car in the morning to find that it’s not charged and therefore late for work and having to go to a really expensive public charger to get a fast charge and also be late to work… 

But for the last month I’ve only been able to charge my car with Indra’s “Boost” charging option because it never starts a charge itself due to the connection issues. 

If you’re happy to share the CEO’s email I’d love to get in touch to formally raise a complaint and request reimbursement for the charging once it eventually get’s repaired. They told me that the WIFI module will be shipped today (supposedly) and should be with me early next week followed by a local engineer contacting me afterwards to arrange the installation and getting it connected to the internet.

Fingers crossed! Will keep you updated.

​@Blastoise186 thanks for raising with Indra also! 

Yes, thank you ​@Blastoise186 for contacting Indra on our behalf, interesting info you’ve gleaned. I must say, since I emailed the senior management earlier in the week they have been attentive to my issues and are making positive noises to try and sort things for me.

​@cfurlong2001, thank you for your explanation of your situation - I’m not sure what you mean by a cellular module? I will PM you with email addresses I used.

Jasmin