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Introducing Charge Anytime - next generation EV charging

Introducing Charge Anytime - next generation EV charging
Tim_OVO
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Updated on 15/01/24 by Emmanuelle_OVO:

Here’s the latest on our new electric vehicle charging type-of-use plan

 

We’ve relaunched Anytime as Charge Anytime. It’s not only a new name, we’ve made some updates to the product and we want to tell you all about it…

 

See our Charge Anytime product page here

 

What are the headline facts about Charge Anytime?

 

  • Smart charge your electric vehicle for 7p per kWh whenever you need to,
  • Now available to be added to any OVO plan, including electric-only households,
  • Intelligently optimises your charge for when the energy is at its greenest.*
     

Am I eligible?

 

You can see all eligibility details in our Charge Anytime page here.

 

  • You must be an OVO Energy customer and have an eligible car or charger. We’re constantly looking to open up the eligibility of this product to more EV models and chargers, so if you don’t see your tech here, keep an eye on our page. 
  • Right now, solar panels aren’t compatible with Charge Anytime (unless you have an Indra Pro Smart Charger). But we’re working on making this happen soon.
     

Our customers and trialists have really played a huge role in shaping Charge Anytime, not least the members of this forum. Leave a comment below if you have any questions, feedback and to let us know if you’ll be adding Charge Anytime to your OVO plan.

 

*Our smart tech will aim to charge your car at a time when the grid has more renewable energy in it. Meaning it’s less likely your EV will be charged by energy from fossil fuels.

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6

188 replies

Jeffus
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@Tim_OVO do you know if OVO have given any consideration to a tariff like Octopus Go that doesn't require a specific charger or car?

 

 

Tim_OVO
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@Jeffus I know that OVO’s EV approach is type of use, rather than a time of use plan such as Octopus Go. 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
R
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I’m currently with British Gas and looking to switch to ovo. I have 2 ev’s with a home pod point charger. Would this charger be compatible?

Blastoise186
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Howdy @Rafster1882 !

I’m afraid Pod Point chargers aren’t currently compatible with Charge Anytime. However, your EV’s might be.

Please can you tell me the make and model for both of them?

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We have a bmw ix3 and a txe London taxi which is basically a Volvo x40

Blastoise186
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Thanks!

Your BMW iX3 is compatible via Direct-To-Vehicle Mode. You’ll be good to go with this EV.

Your taxi however, is an edge case. I’d suggest pinging an email to smarthome@ovoenergy.com for to check compatibility that EV.

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T
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Hello!

we are currently with OVO and are getting quotes on charging points, and likely getting the MG4. Is this something we can do at our home? With the Indra charger?  Pretty sure we are already set up on a smart meter

Jeffus
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Hello!

we are currently with OVO and are getting quotes on charging points, and likely getting the MG4. Is this something we can do at our home? With the Indra charger?  Pretty sure we are already set up on a smart meter

Hi @timothygillan

Welcome to the customer forum, i am just a customer like you.

A couple of models of the Indra Charger are currently compatible, you can see them here

https://www.ovoenergy.com/electric-cars/charge-anytime-cars-and-chargers#chargers

It is quite fast moving, so others may be added. 

Just a personal thought. The closest tariff is currently from Octopus. For flexibility it might be worth looking at the Ohme chargers as some of the models  are on the compatible list of both Intelligent Octopus and OVO Drive Anytime. No one knows which tariff will be more competitive in a few months. 

Have a look at the usage page, if you see 30min readings you should be fine

https://account.ovoenergy.com/usage?datePeriod=daily&unit=kwh

What do you see when you run this check. 

https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/

You can always post a picture of your meter not the In Home Display and i am sure someone will comment

 

 

 

T
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Hello!

we are currently with OVO and are getting quotes on charging points, and likely getting the MG4. Is this something we can do at our home? With the Indra charger?  Pretty sure we are already set up on a smart meter

Hi @timothygillan

Welcome to the customer forum, i am just a customer like you.

A couple of models of the Indra Charger are currently compatible, you can see them here

https://www.ovoenergy.com/electric-cars/charge-anytime-cars-and-chargers#chargers

It is quite fast moving, so others may be added. 

Just a personal thought. The closest tariff is currently from Octopus. For flexibility it might be worth looking at the Ohme chargers as some of the models  are on the compatible list of both Intelligent Octopus and OVO Drive Anytime. No one knows which tariff will be more competitive in a few months. 

Have a look at the usage page, if you see 30min readings you should be fine

https://account.ovoenergy.com/usage?datePeriod=daily&unit=kwh

What do you see when you run this check. 

https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/

You can always post a picture of your meter not the In Home Display and i am sure someone will comment

 

 

 

Hello! 
Thanks so much! We have looked at octopus- but our current day rate on OVO at 33p is cheaper than octopus from what we can see! So I feel like it’s best for us stick with OVO? and add the 10p for just the electric car charging? The electrician told me that the insta comes with a type 2 and all new EVs do as standard so hopefully that’s fine with the MG4?! 
 

Anyone here got an MG4?!

Completely nee to electric cars but after the initial outlay of the charging point- to run it seems like a no brainer? We’d be paying monthly for a car anyways- so why not make the fuel a fiver to top up at home?!
 

Jeffus
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Hello! 
Thanks so much! We have looked at octopus- but our current day rate on OVO at 33p is cheaper than octopus from what we can see! So I feel like it’s best for us stick with OVO? and add the 10p for just the electric car charging? The electrician told me that the insta comes with a type 2 and all new EVs do as standard so hopefully that’s fine with the MG4?! 
 

Anyone here got an MG4?!

Completely nee to electric cars but after the initial outlay of the charging point- to run it seems like a no brainer? We’d be paying monthly for a car anyways- so why not make the fuel a fiver to top up at home?!
 

 

Yep certainly ovo looks good on price today.

But rates do change as do new tariff. Teaser rates at launch are common so no one knows what will happen. Suppliers have been open about launching loss leader tariff in the past. 

I only mentioned the Ohme charges as then you will have more choice going forward. Obviously up to you based on your own requirements and investigations. 

Exciting times! 

 

M
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Hi all.  Does adding the Charge Anytime to your OVO account change the unit rate of electricity you get charged on your current fixed electricity deal?  So does this remain in changed?  Thanks for the advice anyone!

Blastoise186
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Hi all.  Does adding the Charge Anytime to your OVO account change the unit rate of electricity you get charged on your current fixed electricity deal?  So does this remain in changed?  Thanks for the advice anyone!

Nope! Your unit rates stay exactly the same for everything else. The only unit rates that change are those related to EV Charging.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
M
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Hi all.  Does adding the Charge Anytime to your OVO account change the unit rate of electricity you get charged on your current fixed electricity deal?  So does this remain in changed?  Thanks for the advice anyone!

Nope! Your unit rates stay exactly the same for everything else. The only unit rates that change are those related to EV Charging.

Great @Blastoise186 - thank you for the quick reply back!!

M
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Can anyone advise whether you can have two vehicles on a simple Charge Anytime account? Or will you only be able to change one vehicle at the 10p rate and the other would be charged at the standard rate? Thank you for any advice!

Blastoise186
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Me again! XD

You can indeed! :)

If you’re using the Charger with Charge Anytime, simply plug in whichever EV needs some juice and it’ll work fine for the most part. There will be minor quirks, but nothing game changing.

If you’re using D2V Mode, you need to connect each EV to Charge Anytime individually and you may need more than one Charge Anytime account, but they can all be linked to the same OVO Energy account.

In both cases, provided you set things up correctly both EVs will get the 10p/kWh rate. The advantage of the Charger route is that ANY EV you plug in gets the cheap rate too!

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
M
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Hi @Blastoise186   thanks again for your reply and the advice! It’s the D2V route I’m using because I have a PodPoint at home which isn’t compatible with the Charge Anytime. I’ll try and connect the second vehicle!
 

You’re a hero!!  

F
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Hi,

Want to sign-up for Charge Anytime but do not have a compatible charger. Aware I can get the schedule via the Kaluza app, but thinking about security. Would the Charge Anytime/Kaluza app allow me to lock the charger I have? Or would this be done seperately through any charger app?

Thanks,

BPLightlog
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Hi @fgl1975 , I’m not sure about the charger lock but you can use Charge Anytime with either a compatible charger or EV. There’s a check routine via their website. 
https://www.ovoenergy.com/electric-cars/charge-anytime

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Blastoise186
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If supported, you’d use the charger app or a physical key to lock the charger. That’s out of scope of the Charge Anytime app.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
N
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Hi everyone finally just got my OHME E Pod charge point fitted and have added the Charge Anytime add on to my account successfully. I have an MG4 Trophy and as that’s not on the list for OVO hence the OHME charge point that is. 
 

I have not downloaded the “Anytime app” as advised on here that causes more trouble than it’s worth.

I have downloaded the OHME app and associated both my OVO tariff ( including allowing Kaluza access) and the MG4.

I have plugged the car in and set a schedule in the OHME app for 100% charge by 07:15 tomorrow. 
 

This was all at about 14:00hrs, I have seen nothing happen yet regarding charging? Is this purely because the OHME apps are waiting for cheap energy to become available as it knows I don’t need the car till 07:15 tomorrow?

Sorry for being dumb but sitting here like an expectant father.

cheers Mike

 

BPLightlog
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Hi @New EV driver , yes it will look for the greenest slots to charge for you but deliver on the target by the set time anyway. 
The thing about the ‘control’ is dependent on your set up. So for those with a compatible EV, the charge Anytime app allows a ‘direct to vehicle’ (D2V) control whereas with a compatible charger, it’s the charger that links to the CA system

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Blastoise186
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The Podpoint restriction is because EDF owns Podpoint. Makes it tricky for basically anyone else to connect to it.

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G
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Hello all.  Great info in this forum.  I am getting an Indra LUX installed next week (I ordered it directly from Indra).  Please confirm if what I understand of the setup process is correct:

  1. The Indra LUX gets installed
  2. I need to setup an account and password in the Indra web app
  3. I add the Charge Anytime option in the Ovo account page and I need to use the same credentials I setup in the Indra web app
  4. Set up the time I want the car charged in the Indra web app
  5. Plug the car in
  6. Relax while the charger and Indra web app find the best time to charge the car

Please let me know if this is correct.  Thanks in advance  

BPLightlog
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Hello all.  Great info in this forum.  I am getting an Indra LUX installed next week (I ordered it directly from Indra).  Please confirm if what I understand of the setup process is correct:

  1. The Indra LUX gets installed
  2. I need to setup an account and password in the Indra web app
  3. I add the Charge Anytime option in the Ovo account page and I need to use the same credentials I setup in the Indra web app
  4. Set up the time I want the car charged in the Indra web app
  5. Plug the car in
  6. Relax while the charger and Indra web app find the best time to charge the car

Please let me know if this is correct.  Thanks in advance  

@GJ1 your other post has an answer here 

 

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Are you an ovo employee?

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