OVO V2G Group - current thoughts?

Hi ​@Sam72 ,

I don’t think many of the V2G Trialists are actively posting to the Forum anymore unfortunately - the last time I recall seeing one was probably well over six months ago.

AFAIK that particular Charger can’t be used for any Smart Charging setups outside of V2G so you’re probably best exploring the Fixed Rate Tariffs OVO has on offer.

I guess the question then is, which is better V2G or the Smart Charging i.e. is it better now to ditch the V2G?

Up to you really. OVO Charge Anytime does give a pretty sweet rate for EV Charging, but you’d have to ditch the V2G and probably swap Charger to make it work.

Hey ​@Sam72, 

​@Blastoise186 has already made some great points so far. I just wanted to add another couple of considerations. Charge Anytime isn’t a “tariff” but more of an add on to existing tariffs as long as you meet the compatibility. As you’ve said the charger isn’t compatible could your EV be a compatible model? 

You can use this form to check your compatibility - https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/5UDXSx

Keep us updated!

Thanks ​@Chris_OVO , but apparently not, I’ve got a Nissan Leaf!

No problem ​@Sam72! 

We have all our compatible chargers on our website here - https://www.ovoenergy.com/electric-cars/smart-charger. If you did decide to replace your charger in the future we’d be happy to help you with any questions you have 😊

A bit of additional information, I don't know if you had one of the Wallbox Quasar V2G units but they turned out to be not only very expensive (about £5k if I remember correctly) but also prone to failure. A small group of people have got together on SpeakEV to try and self repair the units but I don't think it is going that well. They all seem to have failed the same way so (as an electronics design engineer) I think that it had an inherent design fault which results in eventual failure so I wouldn't go buying one anyway. Replacing the many burnt out components is not going to fix the design flaw.

I also think there is a desgn philosophy failure with V2G in that even if people get home to connect their V2G by 4pm or even 5pm their journey would mean that the car battery is  probably more empty than full so not having a significant abilty to support the peak load. It seemed like a good idea but it has significant flaws which is why it appears to have fizzled.

Peter

Indeed. I still think V2G/V2H has a potential use case for the future, but it definitely needs a lot more time to bake in the oven before I’d want to see it attempted again out in the field.

One of the thoughts is that Home Batteries would be a more viable option, however, HBs are so much more expensive than vehicle batteries and companies seem to be taking interested home owners to the cleaners over pricing. It's also easier to charge HBs with solar as there is no minimum charging rate as there is with VBs.

Certainly more thought is required

Thanks for the responses guys. My V2G is an Indra machine; it’s working fine. ​@Peter E, you’re right that if you use the car daily it doesn’t have much time to support the peak grid load, I think the main benefit is actually if you haven’t used the car that day, or work slightly different hours. It’s frustrating that as it was part of an OVO test that it can’t be incorporated into the Charge Anytime, especially considering OVO’s fixed deals currently are uncompetitive. Needs a bit more thought, don’t want to give up on the V2G yet, but these decisions are economic.