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RM84
Rank 1
March 17, 2023
Solved

Preconditioning settings like pre-heat from my BMW EV app not working due to clashing with OVO's Charge Anytime?

  • March 17, 2023
  • 109 replies
  • 4173 views

Good Morning,

 

I’ve recently added Charge Anytime to our account, however as our charger (Zappi v2) isn’t compatible, I’ve gone down the route of linking the Charge Anytime app directly with the car itself (BMW i4), which is where the problems have started.

 

So to provide context, before we added Charge Anytime, I was using the My BMW app to control the charging, preconditioning and vehicle preferences. In my case I had a schedule set up, so the car would precondition the batteries and warm the cabin prior to departure, however since the Ovo app ‘took over’, the preconditioning functionality has gone haywire.

 

It appears that the schedule I had in place (Mon-Fri 7am departure), keeps being replaced with bizarre times of the day and night (I had a random 3am departure scheduled the other night) and no matter how many times I go back to reset, it keeps happening.

 

Somehow the Ovo app is clashing with the manufacturers app and essentially rendering the preconditioning functionality useless, which is a problem. If the Ovo app does need to be the dominant app for controlling the car, it needs more functionality. Did any issues arise during testing, Ovo? I’d be interested to know.

 

Has anyone else experienced anything like this yet? If this continues I’ll probably uninstall it, as in my opinion, essential vehicle functions shouldn’t be compromised as a trade off for having a cheaper electricity rate to charge your car.

 

Any help and advice would be appreciated.

    Best answer by Tim_OVO

    Updated on 14/04/26 by Abby_OVO

     

    Hi @RM84 @KC1986 and thank you for coming together hear to flag this. Since July 2025, zappi have integrated compatibility with Charge Anytime, check out the topic below for more on this:

     

     

    Who can get Charge Anytime?

     

    There are now two ways you can get Charge Anytime:

     

    You must have an eligible EV or Smart Charger, we’re constantly looking into ways to broaden eligibility of this product so if your technology isn’t currently on this list keep an eye on our page for updates!

     

    I’m told that for some vehicles, including BMW & MINI, our Charge Anytime smart charging control automatically overwrites any existing pre-conditioning schedules.


    Our technical analysts are working hard to try and rectify the issue, but it might take some time given how our smart charging control currently operates.

     

    If anyone’s affected by this issue, please make our team aware. You can do this by getting in touch with the Charge Anytime team directly via your preferred contact method on the topic below:

     

     

     

    The following topic may also be helpful:

     

    109 replies

    Show previous replies
    O
    Rank 2
    ObsidianWalker
    Rank 2
    May 12, 2023

    Ohme app. :)

    Thank you. I was completely confused with that. 

    C
    Newcomer
    ChrisIX3
    Newcomer
    May 12, 2023

    Thanks all. Just for interest, what I have found works…

    I am now using the Charge Anytime app, I have the BMW set to ‘Charge Immediately’

    Ohme is showing charge to full ASAP.

    Charge anytime is set to hit 90% but 8am tomorrow (school swimming gala, worse luck!), and charging is working, I think.

     

    The disconcerting thing is the BMW app sends notifications to my phone saying it has updated the charge setting to a time window and the car ready by… neither of which are accurate.

    I think this is update being passed to car coming from the charge anytime app everytime it kicks in and out.

    I’m trusting the app 🤞

     

     

    Tim_OVO
    OVO Staff
    Tim_OVO
    OVO Forum Legend
    May 15, 2023

    @ChrisIX3 I’m sure you know what you’re doing and I’m just being a Charge Anytime novice here (allbeit an OVO employed one), but, I’m still unsure whether you’re using Charge Anytime via the smart charger route or the direct to vehicle (D2V) route. 

     

    It sounds like you’re D2V, using the Charge Anytime app. Were you given any advice on what to set the Ohme charging settings to? and likewise for the BMW app?

    Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
    P
    Newcomer
    Paulalan
    Newcomer
    May 18, 2023

    Hi, I’ve jumped on this thread to see if there is any update to this. I also a BMW 330e (2022) which has been for the past 4 months working in perfect harmony with the OVO charge anytime app. 
    Until a week ago when the OVO App stopped receiving updates from the car. I contacted the Smarthome team but haven’t to date received any reply from them. However all of a sudden the OVO app on Monday reset its self and unlinked the car. This allowed me to reconnect the car to the OVO app and now the app is again talking to the car. 

    However, since re linking the car to the OVO app it appears to be doing the same to my BMW as it is to others in this thread. Randomly setting bizarre departure times. I get about 2-3 minutes of initial charge when I put my car on charge with a 0500 hours departure time set via the OVO app, then the charge is paused and won’t charge any further. The OVO app then reverts to saying charge will resume after 0100 hours but doesn’t. 

    I cleared all the departure times in the car and keep resetting it back to ‘Charge immediately,’ however the OVO app appears to continuously overwrite this with its bizarre times, which I’ve noticed on the BMW app appear to always be for the preceding day. This may be a reason why the car stops charging as it’s an historic date.?


    My Hypervolt charger wont work with the OVO app so I have to connect it via the car. It’s frustrating as it was all working perfectly until recently. Now the only way I can get the car to charge is via the Urgent charge feature and so the charge cost rises to standard rate. 
     

      D
      Newcomer
      DaveWeymouth
      Newcomer
      May 18, 2023

      I’m still waiting for a resolution from OVO.

      I’m hoping it’ll be sorted before next winter, otherwise I’ll have to disconnect the App - can’t be dealing with frosty cold cars in the morning - got spoilt by the pre-heating function.

      My car charges OK, but at strange times. More often recently it’ll be fully charged before midnight - that’s with the car and App set for a 5.30 am departure.

      My only suggestion is to delete the App and start again and just go with it’s foibles until OVO sort it

      Good luck ! I love it when Tech makes our lives easier !

       

      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      May 18, 2023

      Hey @Paulalan and @DaveWeymouth,

       

      Are you able to please make the Smart Home team aware if you haven’t already: smarthome@ovoenergy.com.

       

      We’ll keep you updated if we get any updates on this internally. 

      Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
      P
      Newcomer
      Paulalan
      Newcomer
      May 18, 2023

      Thank you Emmanuelle,

       I have emailed the Smarthome team this morning . II’ve also appraised them of the latest fault I have after completing an urgent charge that the OVO app has now frozen.

      The app now shows the message ‘Your car is not charging. Please use your cars display or app if you need to make charging start.’

      However the car is fully charged and unplugged. 

      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      May 19, 2023

      Hey @Paulalan,

       

      Sorry to hear your app is now frozen, I’ll ask about this internally and report back. 

      Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      May 22, 2023

      Hey @Paulalan,

       

      Got an update from the team:

       

      ‘There could be a few reasons and as such a few things we troubleshoot, we would always advise starting with the basics first and a quick close of the app, restart the device and reopen the app first. If they've emailed in, we most likely would have already replied by now or will be looking to today.’

      Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
      P
      Newcomer
      Paulalan
      Newcomer
      May 22, 2023

      Thanks Emmanuelle,

      I did try those basic quick fixes first off, both for the OVO and the BMW app. However neither restart worked.

      Some good news though is that yesterday the OVO app has started to work fine again.

      The random charge times are still being added to the car. However, yesterday I set the OVO app to charge the car by 5.20am and the car charged perfectly!

      I know this doesn’t help others who have similar problems. But if Smarthome team have done something behind the scenes, then they have worked and may help others.

      Show more replies
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