Solved

Installation of charge anytime has prevented me using my home charger with my audi etron?

M
Rank
Badge
  • mjroe
  • Carbon Cutter****
  • 11 replies

Recently linked ovo account and home charger to charge anytime, then gave permission to control charging of my audi e tron

It didn’t work - didn’t recognise the car as being connected and then the day after, the app wouldn’t communicate with the audi at all. Complete failure so decided to delete charge anytime account and put up with paying standard charge - better than not being able to charge at all.

However, despite deleting account, my audi will no longer connect to my home charger so I am completely stuck.

The charger is fine - I can charge other cars.

The audi is fine, I can charge it in other places.

However, I cannot charge it at home on my charger which is a disaster. I wish I had never tried to implement this scheme at all as I am now forced onto public chargers at huge expense and inconvenience.

Anybody else had these issues?

icon

Best answer by mjroe 12 April 2024, 18:04

View original

24 replies

Blastoise186
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Hi @mjroe ,

The best thing to do here is ping an email to chargeanytime@ovoenergy.com - they’ll help you get this fixed and back on the road.

With that said, you must NOT try to link CA to both the EV and Charger at the same time. If you do, you WILL experience issues.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
M
Rank
Badge

thanks for response.

I have emailed so hopefully will get matters sorted.

With regard to linking the charger, when setting up CA, it came up with a map based upon my postcode and asked me to confirm the exact location of the charger, which I did just on the map. It didn’t ask for the type of charger or any further info on it, so that is the extent of any linking. I assume CA only kicks in if it recognises your car as being in the same location as your home charger?

 

N
Rank
Userlevel 2
Badge

You haven’t said which charge point you have as this is important. You have an Audi which is a “compatible car”. If you have a compatible charge point which was OHME or Indra smart charges ( not sure if others added) you are advised to use the charge point app to communicate with OVO Charge Anytime and schedule your charges that way using the CPs app which will communicate how much energy you have put into your car. Don’t ask me why but if you use the Charge Anytime app or the cars schedule charging can fail. I have an OHME CP and an MG4 ( not on the compatible list as MG don’t release their API so President Xi can spy on me). I schedule all charges via the Ohme app and have deleted MGiSmart app and never even downloaded OVO app. 
 

Don’t give up I do 22k a year and have never charged publicly. Next week I get a Smart #1 so I’ll wish you luck and hope my vehicle change is smooth next week. Fingers and toes crossed.

M
Rank
Badge

Thanks for commenting 

I have an Easee One charger which isn't on the list but understood that doesn't matter if the car is compatible but control has to be through the car.

We also have an mg5 but cannot use CA as neither the car nor the charger is compatible. 

M
Rank
Badge

Audi currently outside charging off a 3 pin plug. May take an age but at least the cost will be lower.

Feel very let down by CA at the moment, promising lower energy cost but so far creating chaos. 

ChristopherS_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 4
Badge

Hi @mjroe,

Welcome to our EV community! It’s great to have you here and I have added a badge to show other users you have an EV 🚗

I’m sorry to hear you are having difficulties with Charge Anytime so far. We have a full FAQ page which may answer some of your questions. If you have any account specific questions you can email the dedicated team at chargeanytime@ovoenergy.com.

We have a brilliant community of members and volunteers so we encourage you to share your experiences with owning an EV with us and everyone supports each other. 

M
Rank
Badge

Thanks Chris

Adding a badge is lovely but what I really need is for somebody at the other end of the cahrgeanytime@ovoenergy.com email address to respond to my issue and sort it out. An acknowledgement that I have emailed would be a start.

It is hugely disappointing that CA didn’t work for me but the bigger issue is that I can now no longer use my home charger with my Audi after giving the app permissions to control the car. This is a major problem and every day that passes without any response or action is causing me huge stress.

 

Firedog
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge

… what I really need is for somebody at the other end of the cahrgeanytime@ovoenergy.com email address to respond …

 

I doubt that this is the case, but if you’re really sending messages to that email address, it’s not surprising that nobody answers 🤷🏼

 

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
M
Rank
Badge

typo! 😄

correct address used otherwise - had an auto reply directing me to standard on line help but need an actual person to get involved

ChristopherS_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 4
Badge

It’s an easy mistake to make @mjroe but it’s good that @Firedog pointed it out that helps us know the right email address was used 😅

I spoke with the team just now and they advised the aim to respond to emails within 2-5 working days. They have said if you want a quicker response then you can call them on 0330 175 9678 option 2 is for existing customers! 

I hope this helps. 

 

M
Rank
Badge

Thanks. I will try calling as I am completely stressed out over this and need some comfort that it can be fixed. 

M
Rank
Badge

Closure!

Thank you to those who took an interest in my issue. Charge Anytime have now been in touch over email and said

 

Hi Martin,

Our specialist team have gotten back to us and said that they have successfully deregistered you from Charge Anytime on our side.

Hopefully this sorts your issue and everything works out for you however if not or if you have any more questions please do not hesitate to reach out!

Thanks,

Holly

Zero Carbon Living Ops Support Expert

 

I have just successfully connected the Audi E-Tron to my Easee One home charger (without using CA) and it is working! So it would seem that whilst I deleted my CA account on my mobile, it was still preventing me charging until the specialist team intervened at their side. Worth knowing if anyone else has a similar issue.

It has only taken a few days in the end, whilst it seemed like a lifetime whilst I was in limbo, so thank you CA.

The biggest pity is that I just dare not try to set CA up again for fear of winding up in the same mess. That means I will be continuing to pay around 26p/Kwh and not the 7p/Kwh I was hoping to achieve through CA (approx figures). As I consume around 400Kwh/month, I will be missing out on a saving of around £75/m = £900 pa - exactly why I tried to set it up in the first place.

It would be good if CA offered a way of somebody setting it up for you to make sure no issues were arising and on hand to carry out any rectification steps there and then if it did go wrong again. I’m going to leave it well alone!

Blastoise186
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +1

I think I see the root cause here - too many things trying to control charging at once.

For Charge Anytime to work, it MUST be the only thing doing so. Do not connect anything else to anything else.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
M
Rank
Badge

OK. So if I tried again what do I do differently?

I simply followed what the app asked me to do.

Hard to remember sequence now but I think it first asked for my OVO account. I assume you have to do that.

I think it then came up with a map showing where I live and asked me to confirm location of charger on the map. Is that a problem?

It then asked for my My Audi access details and permission to control charging. Is that the problem?

Pretty sure I just did as prompted. 

Blastoise186
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +1

I think the Charge Anytime team are the ones best placed to get you set up again. Have a chat with them. :)

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
N
Rank
Userlevel 2
Badge

OP Blastoise186 gives very good advice. What have you got to loose by trying again? CA needs to recognise your Audi to identify your EV energy use and facilitate the lower rate. I would try again today then you still have time to 3 Pin charge before work Monday if it doesn’t work. You would also be able to call CA Monday to maybe do a walk through set up with them.

 

Hope you get it sorted as it’s a really good product. I’ve got the Ohme CP so all my schedules etc are controlled by that device and the Ohme app as I have an unrecognised MG4. I’m hoping the switch to my new Smart #1 on Monday is super smooth as it’s also unrecognised so I will continue to use the Ohme app. On advice here I never used or downloaded the CA app. The only issue in 18k miles in 9 months have been two failures to finish or start charging. The first has never been explained but when I spotted it Ohme magically fixed it? The second was blamed on my MG4 stopping the charge schedule even though it never had any control over charging? All very strange but hope you can get it sorted.

Blastoise186
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +1

If you’re using the Charger with CA, you can just plug in any EV freely and it’ll just work - no need for any extra button pushing. This is why we often recommend connecting to the Charger rather than the EV whenever possible.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Abby_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 6

Hey @mjroe 

 

Have you been able to get connected to Charge Anytime yet?

 

Let us know how you got on, or if you’re still having any trouble getting connected.

Location: Electric Avenue
M
Rank
Badge

Hi Abby

I have not tried again. 

Last time, it just didn’t work. Wouldn’t recognise that the audi was connected to the charger so I couldn’t schedule a charge or ask for an immediate charge, and the next day the CA app wouldn’t communicate with the audi at all - just got a spinning wheel of doom. Doing that also meant I couldn’t use my audi with my charger at all, as CA was blocking it, so I have deleted my account and forgot about it, whilst missing out on big savings.

Maybe I need to get a CA compatible charger fitted to replace the Easee One so CA can control charging through the charger and not the audi?

Blastoise186
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Having two EV Chargers installed at the same property is possible and permitted, so you wouldn’t have to get rid of the existing Charger - could be useful as a backup.

I think as long as only one of them is actively connected to an EV at a time and the other is just in sleep mode, it shouldn’t cause any electrical overloading issues.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
M
Rank
Badge

Thanks. I think getting an OHME charger is sounding like the way forward. Savings in the first year would likely pay for it. My other ev is an MG5 so I could charge that and the audi using CA if I get a compatible charger.

 

Blastoise186
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Definitely. Going that route means whatever EV you plug into the Charger will automatically get CA rates. You might have to tweak the schedules a bit, but otherwise it should just be plug and play once the Charger is set up correctly.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
M
Rank
Badge

OK - so seriously looking at getting a different home charger to work with CA.

The physical layout at my property means I need a longer than usual charging cable. Just about works with 10m but better with 15m - I already have both. 

4 chargers appear compatible with CA but Hypervolt requires a compatible car too (my MG5 not compatible whilst the Audi is - theoretically but not from recent experience).

Like the look of the OHME Home Pro but it comes with a 5m tethered cable so no good to me.

Leaves OHME E Pod or Indra Smart PRO. Aware of several people having OHME but the Indra has a longer warranty, plus wifi and availabe untethered.

Any experiences or advice?

Blastoise186
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +1

If you have Solar Panels, definitely go for the Indra - you’ll need the Solar Mode features it offers. Likewise, if you want the maximum number of possible ways to get it connected to the internet, that’s the best option.

If you want a mobile app and the ability to lock the charger now, go for the Ohme.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!

Reply


Terms & ConditionsCookie settings