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Charge Anytime - Is there a way to ascertain when I can next charge the car just from the app (without needing to connect to the charger)

  • 17 February 2023
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M
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I've recently started using the EV Anytime add on and am largely delighted with it, however one slight issue I've experienced - as someone who doesn't have off-street parking / a driveway - is that I need to hook my car up to the charger before the app will advise when it will next charge.

This isn't ideal as I don't necessarily want to leave the car connected to the charger whilst the cable needs to run over the pavement (albeit within a pavement 'ramp') overnight.

If there was a way to ascertain when I can next charge the car just from the app (without needing to connect to the charger) this would allow me to go out at that time (if it's a suitable time), instead of hooking the car up to only then be advised it might be another 6/12 hours before charging can start.

Is there scope for this to be considered within a future release/upgrade of the app?

Thanks 

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Best answer by Tim_OVO 6 March 2023, 16:39

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Blastoise186
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Hey @mcgoogy !

That’s actually a really, really good idea! We can’t add it to the Ideas section yet, but I’ll definitely see if the forum moderators can pass this back to the right team. Would that work for you?

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Yes of course, that would be great. Thank you for the fast response.

It's not the end of the world, but this morning (for example) I went out, unraveled 15m of charging cable, hooked up the car and charger, opened the app only for it to tell me it would be this evening before charging would start. I then disconnected the charger and car, rolled up the cable, put it back in the car and went back to bed 🤣

In my simplistic mind, I wonder, if - given the OVO and Audi apps are already connected/talking to reach other - there could be a button/function within the OVO app that would allow users to know at the press of a button when smart charging is next available.

Appreciate there may be reasons why this isn't possible, but thought it worthwhile to make the suggestion, as would imagine other users may have the same issue.

Thanks again.

 

Blastoise186
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Consider it done. I’ll raise this with the moderators backstage straight away.

It may take a few days to get a response from them, but we’ll keep you posted.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
M
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Brilliant, thank you again for the reply.

Much appreciated.

M
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Hi just following up on this request and wondered if there had been anything back as yet.

Many thanks.

Blastoise186
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Nothing yet. But the moderators will probably stop by at some point if they’ve anything to share.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Tim_OVO
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Hi @mcgoogy, following your first post I have shared this topic with the people at Kaluza who build Charge Anytime and the technology that underpins it. 

 

I’ll try and hunt down some insight into the idea’s feasibility for you, but at the moment I’ve not got anything I can offer except this isn’t currently a feature of the app. 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
Tim_OVO
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Updated on 15/01/23 by Emmanuelle_OVO:

Find out more about Charge Anytime:
 

 

 

as someone who doesn't have off-street parking / a driveway - is that I need to hook my car up to the charger before the app will advise when it will next charge.

This isn't ideal as I don't necessarily want to leave the car connected to the charger whilst the cable needs to run over the pavement (albeit within a pavement 'ramp') overnight.

If there was a way to ascertain when I can next charge the car just from the app (without needing to connect to the charger) this would allow me to go out at that time (if it's a suitable time), instead of hooking the car up to only then be advised it might be another 6/12 hours before charging can start.

Is there scope for this to be considered within a future release/upgrade of the app?

 

A quick update on this idea is that the product designers have seen this idea and added it to the feature to do list. 

 

I’m told one of the main reasons it’s not a priority is that, with Charge Anytime, the technology behind it (Kaluza Flex) works best when the car is plugged in, the longer the better. The reason is that moments of low carbon intensity can be utilised whenever they arise. 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
Jeffus
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A quick update on this idea is that the product designers have seen this idea and added it to the feature to do list. 

 

I’m told one of the main reasons it’s not a priority is that, with Charge Anytime, the technology behind it (Kaluza Flex) works best when the car is plugged in, the longer the better. The reason is that moments of low carbon intensity can be utilised whenever they arise. 

 

@Tim_OVO out of curiosity. 

Does Charge Anytime seek to prioritise the lowest cost 30min slots to OVO first or the lowest carbon intensity slots first? They may not be quite the same. 

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Hi @mcgoogy, following your first post I have shared this topic with the people at Kaluza who build Charge Anytime and the technology that underpins it. 

 

I’ll try and hunt down some insight into the idea’s feasibility for you, but at the moment I’ve not got anything I can offer except this isn’t currently a feature of the app. 

Brilliant, many thanks.

Tim_OVO
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Interesting question, @Jeffus - my naive assumption is that low grid demand tends to equal low carbon intensity and price. Those gas powered stations only turn on when they have to top up the supply. But who knows how volatile this relationship is in practice. 

 

Charge Anytime uses Kaluza Flex to intelligently charge - check out their site for how it works!

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
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Hi, just following up on this post and wondered if there had been any discussions on the suggestion made.

 

Many thanks.

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