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When are you going to allow us to control ON/OFF of Vehicle to Grid (V2G) EV charging from the app? Kaluza AMA


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When are you going to allow us to control ON/OFF from the APP rather than the V2G? Thanks

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Best answer by Tim_OVO 28 October 2020, 17:32

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When are you going to allow us to control ON/OFF from the APP rather than the V2G? Thanks

That is a CHAdeMO requirement so probably never, I don’t understand the risk myself.

What would be great is a pause button so once it was connected you could pause for a selected period of time or until you unpause. That would be allowed by CHAdeMO.

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Hmm, don’t understand that @ArundaleP - you can boost from the APP, so you’re controlling energy in - why can’t you simply have a button which starts the sytem up without having to go to the V2G? There are loads of conventional chargers on the market which are fully app controlled?

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Hmm, don’t understand that @ArundaleP - you can boost from the APP, so you’re controlling energy in - why can’t you simply have a button which starts the sytem up without having to go to the V2G? There are loads of conventional chargers on the market which are fully app controlled?

As far as I know it is purely down to the requirements of CHAdeMO (which most, almost all other chargers are not using). In theory once the connection is made (ie you have pressed the on button and the car / charger have connected) you can control the charge    and discharge as you want. A simple workaround for being able to control the charger would be to pause and stop anything happening, as you rightly said you can already boost so that would give you the option to fully control remotely once the initial connection had been made. My suggestion would be similar to overriding your smart thermostat for a fixed period of time and avoid the need to adjust the schedule or charge range for a temporary situation.

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Its just illogical isn’t it @ArundaleP? Think would be helpful if Kalazua gave us an explanation - sure there must be way to resolve it.

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Its just illogical isn’t it @ArundaleP? Think would be helpful if Kalazua gave us an explanation - sure there must be way to resolve it.

What is your particular issue with having to press the on / off button (v2g charger in garage, frequent failures etc)? There are some solutions other  people are already using (message me for details if you want to).

It is illogical in my mind but the CHAdeMO protocols and policies were put in place mostly for rapid charging not 6Kw as in our case. 

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Hi @ArundaleP , my set up is that I have the charger on the side of the house, with the tethered cable running under a door and then the main port is hung up on a cradle on the wall the other side of the door. The door locks, but only one way, so currently I either (a) keep it unlocked, which is a security risk; (b) turn it on, lock the door, walk all the way round back though the garden and into the house and exit through the front door (annoying...); (c ) buy a new two way lockable door (still annoying….), or (d) Kaluza install an on/off feature and everything is run from the app (HAPPY ME...). As bizarre as the setup may sound, I would have thought it may be a common setup for many...

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Hi @ArundaleP , my set up is that I have the charger on the side of the house, with the tethered cable running under a door and then the main port is hung up on a cradle on the wall the other side of the door. The door locks, but only one way, so currently I either (a) keep it unlocked, which is a security risk; (b) turn it on, lock the door, walk all the way round back though the garden and into the house and exit through the front door (annoying...); (c ) buy a new two way lockable door (still annoying….), or (d) Kaluza install an on/off feature and everything is run from the app (HAPPY ME...). As bizarre as the setup may sound, I would have thought it may be a common setup for many...

It probably isn’t that unusual to have it not so accessible, I know a few installs in that situation. Unfortunately because the V2G uses the CHAdeMO system to connect to the vehicle it must be built in a way that conforms to their requirement and it is a requirement to physically start the connection process other than just plugging in the connector (which normal chargers can).
 

I mentioned previously there are options worth looking at (message me if you want details) that will allow you to press the button remotely.

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Updated on 26/05/22 by Jess_OVO

Our V2G trial has moved to the next phase and is no longer accepting new participants - read more about this here.

Some trialists have been sharing the impact the V2G charger has had on their energy costs over here.

 

 

Here’s the latest from our Kaluza app product manager, Josh:

 

Hi @Sam72 

Looks like @ArundaleP  beat me to the punch on this.

I'm afraid they're correct. This is a required by the CHAdeMO standard.

Many thanks,
Josh

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Would be amazing to have this option via the app, I can understand that @Sam72 

 

Imagine the car is at home and you’re on the train back from somewhere, needing a full charge for when you arrive…….. Would be handy!

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@Tim_OVO Hi Tim, you can do that already with the boost option. The issue with the V2G / Chademo is the initial connection (you have to plug in and physically press the on / off button on the V2G charger). If you forget to do this the car won’t charge and there is no way round it at present.

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Totally off-topic, as it looks like I’m beating a dead horse on that one, was wondering if there is a power failure, would there be any chance of powering the house from the V2G? Had a situation recently and just thought instead of the candles, would be great to borrow some juice from the car!

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@Sam72  That would be really handy but unfortunately there is a lot more involved to make that happen (see Tesla Powerwall gateway). The V2G doesn’t have the switchgear to allow this at present.

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That is an interesting idea, @Sam72 

 

@ArundaleP do you know if this is because the charger is connected to the meter, for export only… so it never has the option to get beyond the meter to the property?

 

A feature like this would be immensely handy in a power cut, especially if there’s vulnerability or electricity dependence at the property. 

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@Tim_OVO @Sam72  There are very strict safety requirements to isolate the property from the the grid when you are generating your own power during a power cut. This is to prevent someone from the power company getting a shock from what should be a dead cable. It can be achieved with a manual switch over which separates the house from the grid or automatically (like the Tesla Powerwall) using heavy contractors. The generator, in this case V2G but could be solar or home battery would need to have the software / monitoring to be able to implement it safely. There are also capacity issues in that the V2G could potentially only provide 6kW of power so would need to be considered.

It would be a great feature but I doubt it will ever happen with our V2G setup.

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Super quick message here to confirm I’ve found more comments relating to this question (above) in the original Kaluza AMA topic, and I’ve just moved them over to this topic so it’s all in the same place. 

 

Thanks to everyone that posted. We’re nearly there getting every one of your questions answered, and as a result have lots of good questions and official answers that are online and free for anyone interested! 

 

We’ll do another one of these for sure!

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Hi All,

Is anyone else here having trouble understanding how the EV charging data is presented on the app?

Being the start of a new month today I am trying to work out my charging costs for September but nothing seems to tally with each other. I’m looking at my Smart Meter usage readings, my OVO app electricity usage readings, my Kaluza platform charging data, my Indra app usage data and I’m in a complete muddle.

Is there anyone who can guide me to easily get an accurate figure for how much kwh and £s it has taken to charge my car per month?

I am on the OVO Drive Anytime tariff.

Thank you.

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HI @Jasmin10 and thanks for this question. 

 

@Gingernut49 and @juliamc might be two forum members who use the Kaluza app for (non V2G) smart charging. Any suggestions for Jasmin? 

 

 

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I use the Ovo and ChargedEV apps and the websites too. This is the clearest. 

My Drive+Anytime tariff finishes on the 16th and apparently I’m going onto the Simpler Energy (variable) tariff as that’s all they’re offering. So instead of 15.9/kWh regular price and 5p/kWh when charging I’m supposed to be paying 35.31p/kkWh all the time.

I’m only on a state pension and ‘work’ as a volunteer driver so I’m desperately worried.

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Hi Tim and @Gingernut49,

Thank you for your replies. I think what is also complicating matters for me is that my charging point is linked to my solar panels so I can charge my car when solar generation exceeds my household usage at no extra cost. Whilst this is a nice complication to have, it means when I’m trying to work out costs as I can’t just multiply number of kwh shown on ChargedEV app (Indra) by unit price per kwh.

I thought there was a way that OVO can show a breakdown of what my electricity usage has been on? Would this list EV charging as separate?

The data shown by Kaluza is incorrect, I have been in communication with the Smart Home team and have been told there is a bug they are trying to fix but that was a while ago now and it’s still all wrong. Don’t know if it’s just my data/software or everyone’s.

 

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I’ve made a spreadsheet for each month which shows my total kWh usage from the Ovo app, less my kWh charging info from the ChargedEV app, which gives me how many kWh my house has used.

I’m going to try not to put my heating on this year - or certainly very low: 15 or 16 only. I’m a volunteer driver so I’m out most of each day.

You should only be paying 5p/kWh when you’re charging.

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Thank you @Gingernut49 I will try that. I too have a spread sheet for each month but the Charged EV app will show total kwhused by car charging whether it’s from the grid or from solar generation.

I do sympathise with you about your concerns re your heating, being a pensioner you will get the extra £300 on top of the winter fuel allowance, won’t you?

 

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I’ve no idea - certainly I haven’t received anything yet.

Unfortunately, I’m just over the threshold for pension credit.

I wish I could have solar panels but I’m end-terrace with a large building next door that overshadows my roof.

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Hey @Gingernut49,

 

Sorry to hear you don’t get pension credit.

 

They are broadening the Warm Home Discount Scheme this year so it should reach more people. I’d also advise checking out the Customer Support Package Pledged by OVO.

 

Hope this helps. 

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What I am ideally looking for is someone else on here who has an EV, solar panels that are connected to their charger and is on the OVO Drive Anytime tariff to explain to me how they work out their car charging cost per month.

You’d think it would be straightforward maths but the Anytime credits really throw me, I can’t seem to get to an actual figure in £s.

 

Would appreciate any help, thanks.

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Hey @Jasmin10,

 

I know @sylm_2000, @Transparent and @nealmurphy have EV’s.

 

Any pearls of wisdom about this particular topic which could help our fellow Community Member @Jasmin10?

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