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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
  • 4110 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
    C
    Newcomer
    Corteg
    Newcomer
    October 15, 2023

    Having the exact same issue with my Mini SE. Put the car on charge and it starts charging for a few minutes then shuts off. I have cleared all car settings in both the App and the Car, put the car in the Mini App to Charge immediately it starts again for a few minutes then stops again, with random charging schedules appearing in both my Mini App and Car.

    My OVO Charge anytime is linked to the car as I have a Hypervolt 2.0 charger which is not yet compatible with Charge Anytime. Its so frustrating as tonight already, I have had the car stop charging 15 times and I have to keep resetting everything to get it charging again.

    I cannot rely on this to set a schedule anymore as I will wake up with no charge in the morning.

    Jeffus
    Rank 20
    Jeffus
    Rank 20
    October 15, 2023

    Hey @lmehuk 

     

    I’ve reached out to the team to see if they can give a timeframe for us. I’ll pop back on here when I hear back from them so I can update you.

    Hi @Abby_OVO

    Have you heard anything? 

    Emmanuelle_OVO
    Retired Moderator
    Emmanuelle_OVO
    Retired Moderator
    October 16, 2023

    Hey @Jeffus,

     

    I’m nudging the team about this, hopefully I get a response today and can report back!

    Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      October 16, 2023

      Hey @Corteg,

       

      I received an update from one of the team:

       

      I'm not aware of any updates to the issue with Charge Anytime overriding preconditioning, however this shouldn't affect the charging itself. This is often a misunderstanding on the customer's part as to how Charge Anytime should work. Charging may well stop, start and change speed whilst the vehicle is plugged in but it should always ensure that the vehicle is at the customer's desired state of charge for the ready-by time that they've set. It sounds to me like this customer needs to leave all of the charging schedules on the vehicle disabled and not change/alter the settings when the charging stops. If the vehicle is failing to charge for their ready-by time once they've tried this they should get in touch with our team.

       

      Hope this helps 🙂

      Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
      C
      Newcomer
      Corteg
      Newcomer
      October 16, 2023

      Hey @Corteg,

       

      I received an update from one of the team:

       

      I'm not aware of any updates to the issue with Charge Anytime overriding preconditioning, however this shouldn't affect the charging itself. This is often a misunderstanding on the customer's part as to how Charge Anytime should work. Charging may well stop, start and change speed whilst the vehicle is plugged in but it should always ensure that the vehicle is at the customer's desired state of charge for the ready-by time that they've set. It sounds to me like this customer needs to leave all of the charging schedules on the vehicle disabled and not change/alter the settings when the charging stops. If the vehicle is failing to charge for their ready-by time once they've tried this they should get in touch with our team.

       

      Hope this helps 🙂

       

       

      Thanks for the reply, but I think it is actually the OVO team misunderstanding. I disable all of the schedules, but then when charging stops, random schedules reappear enabled on my car and car App. For example last night when it stopped (Sunday 15/20/23), it then informed me and had enabled the charge to restart ready for a departure time of Wednesday (@15:23) three days later. 

       

      To get around the issue, I disable all schedules and set to Charge Immediately mode, but a few minutes later random schedules are back in the car enabled (not by me) and charging has switched to Charge in Time Slot days in the future again.

      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      October 17, 2023

      Hey @Corteg,

       

      Can you email the team smarthome@ovoenergy.com. please. 

       

      I’ll let them know you’re reaching out 🙂

      Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      October 19, 2023

      Hey @Corteg,

       

      Thanks for the reply, but I think it is actually the OVO team misunderstanding. I disable all of the schedules, but then when charging stops, random schedules reappear enabled on my car and car App. For example last night when it stopped (Sunday 15/20/23), it then informed me and had enabled the charge to restart ready for a departure time of Wednesday (@15:23) three days later. 

       

      To get around the issue, I disable all schedules and set to Charge Immediately mode, but a few minutes later random schedules are back in the car enabled (not by me) and charging has switched to Charge in Time Slot days in the future again.

       

       

      Further response from the team: 

       

      The same advice would apply here. Charge Anytime will change the settings on the vehicle to get it to behave how it wants it to. This might result in some strange looking schedules appearing in the vehicle's app, but the customer shouldn't interfere by changing these settings. They should disable the vehicles schedules and allow Charge Anytime to do it's thing. There is only an issue if the vehicle is not charged for their ready-by time.

      Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
      B
      Newcomer
      bmenagh
      Newcomer
      November 8, 2023

      I’m also in the same boat with the Ix1, the 1st range of precondition setting get messed up when plugged into the charger and all the others get switched off.

      I have the solo podpoint which is not compatible.

      Instead of just pausing the charge the OVO app changes the departure to some random time and day.

      I’ll email smarthome@ovoenergy.com and see if I get a response 

        N
        Rank 2
        NeVeTaS
        Rank 2
        November 16, 2023

        Same boat here too

        K
        Newcomer
        KPBham
        Newcomer
        November 17, 2023

        Hi I have a few questions. I have a BMW iX1 and I have a pod point charger. Quite confused as to which app to use to charge my car. If I use OVO anytime, I lose the ability to use some of the functions on the MYBMW app. Such as, pre-conditioning (heating the car prior to getting in it on cold mornings). Also, If i charge using my pod point app or BMW app will I lose the 7p/kw or is it charge at standard rate? Be great if anyone could advise or help :)

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