Tutorial

How to set up your smart charger to use it with Charge Anytime

  • 15 December 2023
  • 52 replies
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How to set up your smart charger to use it with Charge Anytime
Tim_OVO
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If you have a compatible charger (such as an Indra or Ohme) then you need to link the charger to your OVO online account. You don’t need the additional Charge Anytime app. Ohme have made step by step instructions on how to set up Charge Anytime.

We recommend opening your OVO online account in Google Chrome, and following these steps: (If this doesn’t work the first time please try this using a new ‘Incognito’ window)

 

  1. Go to the Offers and Upgrades section.
  2. Click on the Charge Anytime banner.
  3. Select the compatible charger that you have (Ohme or Indra).
  4. It’ll ask you for the username and password to log in to your charger manufacturers’ app.
  5. This will link your charger to your OVO account and you’ll get a new heading in your OVO account called ‘Your EV’. 
  6. You’ll still need to schedule the charging in your charger manufacturers' app. And after you’ve charged, the savings will show in the Your EV section of your online account.

 

NOTE - If you ‘Boost’ or ‘Max Charge’ on the charger to charge immediately, this will bypass Charge Anytime and charge the car at your normal unit rate. See this topic for more details:

 

  
 

To link your Indra charger to your OVO account you’ll need your Indra Web Portal Username and Password

 

Indra has more than one platform to manage their chargers, and their own app doesn’t support Charge Anytime yet. They’ll need to move your charger over to the platform that does support Charge Anytime. 

 

If you have an Indra charger and you don’t have a username and password you’ll need to contact Indra directly and they can set this up for you. 

 

You can reach out to Indra via 01684 770 631 or by emailing support@indra.co.uk.

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

52 replies

D
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Yes and No it was helpful that guide. That was a long complicated journey when we first had the charger installed so as a firm believer of it ain’t broke don’t touch it, I’m not taking that journey again. We just need a second device set up with the details so we both get to see the status of the charger.

Emmanuelle_OVO
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Hey @Davewn2,

 

I’ve responded to you on this topic:

 

 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
Nosmarb
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While my ‘compatible’ Renault Zoe is still present but in advance of its replacement by an ‘incompatible’ BYD Dolphin, when my ‘compatible’ Ohme ePod charger is installed in a couple of days, should I uninstall the Charge Anytime app from my Android phone and do all the ‘connecting stuff’ through the Ohme app?
  Incidentally, that “Offers and Upgrades” menu item is not present if using Chrome (incognito or otherwise) on a PC and on an Android phone appears just as “Offers”.

Blastoise186
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Hey @Nosmarb ,

Forum Volunteer here.

You’ll probably want to disable all EV’s in the Charge Anytime app just before you get the charger installed - I’d also recommend deleting the app as well since you wouldn’t need it after that. Once the Charger is installed and linked up to CA, please use the Ohme app for ALL scheduling so that everything works as intended.

If you get stuck, chargeanytime@ovo.com has your back.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Nosmarb
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A clear steer, thank you Blastoise. Your volunteering is much appreciated.

LancastrianScot
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Just had Indra Smart Pro charger installed, and linked with OVO Call Anytime.  Indra say there is only a web-based app to control charging.  I have this but cannot set it up to charge the car for more than a few minutes after midnight before it shuts off.  Last 2 nights, it didn’t charge at all.

 

The Indra app seems to confuse “tariff” and “period” - no guidance as to what is meant by “period”.  And the “period” shows a ‘start time’ but it’s not editable.  

Has anyone any experience of setting up this Indra app, and can give guidance?  Grateful for any help - Indra Customer Service don’t work weekends.     Keith Drury

 

BPLightlog
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Generally you just set up a ‘charge by’ time and I understand there’s a charge level as well

There’s also a user who reports here ..

They say 

1. Keep it simple. I set the maximum charge level needed in the car, and the required ready by time in the Indra web app. Nothing else needed

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Emmanuelle_OVO
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I can see BPLightlog has given some helpful advice here. I’ll also ask the team internally and see if they have any other advice @LancastrianScot 🙂

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LancastrianScot
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There’s this short guide @LancastrianScot but it might not get you past your hurdle 

 

Generally you just set up a ‘charge by’ time and I understand there’s a charge level as well

There’s also a user who reports here ..

They say 

1. Keep it simple. I set the maximum charge level needed in the car, and the required ready by time in the Indra web app. Nothing else needed

Thank you.   :-)        As you suggested, that guide gets me exactly to the point where my issues start, so not a help.  Frankly, the whole matter of describing to newbies just how smart charging works, with explanation of what system talks to what is IMO opaque, and the apps to manage smart charging are inadequate in their handling of this.  AFAICS, the parties involved [perhaps a ‘control architecture” of a “workflow”]  for my case are Indra, Kaluza, the charger itself, the My BMW app, BMW servers and my BMW car, with OVO receiving data to base the Call Anytime credit on.  A simple map of who is sending what data to whom and for what purpose in that chain, would be a real bonus BEFORE starting to try and use.    ;-).

Minor issues have arisen like Boost command from the web-based Indra app doesn’t work, and car only charge for a few minutes each night. I’m in touch on those issues with the Indra Customer Service ATM, and they have responded ultra-rapidly with a firmware update and to enable “compatibility mode”.  We’ll see what comes out of that.

But thanks to all responders to my initial wail!    Keith Drury

M
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Hi @LancastrianScot , I feel your pain! I went through the same fog when I started using Charge Anytime 11 months ago.

Like you, I have a ‘compatible’ car (a Cupra Born) and a compatible charger (an Indra Smart Pro), and it wasn’t clear to me whether I should ‘connect’ the car or the Indra to Charge Anytime.  

Like you, I was confused between the relative merits and pitfalls of using the car’s App, the Indra’s Phone App, the Indra’s Web App or the Charge Anytime Phone App to control the charging process. 

The resolution of this was that the advice from OVO was to connect the Indra Charger in preference to the car - that way, any visitor to your house can charge their EV at Charge Anytime rates.  And the advice from Indra was to use their Web App rather than their Phone App, as proper Charge Anytime integration was (and still is!) a work in progress in the Phone App.

Unfortunately, if you initially download and try to use the Indra Phone App, it may result in difficulties getting the charger connected properly to Charge Anytime later, as I discovered. Like you, I ended up in ‘compatibility mode’ for a while until Indra were able to sort out the firmware in the charger.

Indra’s Web App is a simple affair which basically enables Kaluza, the real brains behind Charge Anytime, to talk to the Indra Charger and tell it when to start charging. When charging, the Indra reports back to Kaluza the number of kW the car has taken, and Kaluza in turn reports this to Charge Anytime. 

This all works fine for me. As quoted above, I simply set a ‘Ready By’ time in the Indra Web App, and plug the Cupra in. I set the required percentage charge level in the Cupra - generally 80% unless I’m going on a long trip. As I understand it, the Indra does not know or care what car is connected, it simply provides power until the car tells it to stop. I have also charged a friend’s Mercedes EQA several times, and it’s just the same routine.

I do not set anything else in either the car itself or in the car’s App, so the car is just dumbly waiting for a charge. As I understand it, anything set in the car is likely to cause conflicts with the process. 

I haven’t tried a BMW, but I’d have thought it should in principle work the same?

 

Hope this helps!

Mike

Emmanuelle_OVO
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Does MikeyB’s advice help @LancastrianScot?

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LancastrianScot
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Does MikeyB’s advice help @LancastrianScot?

Thanks.  Yes it does.  Very similar experiences.  In a couple of days, I’ll see if my problem with driving the Indra charger is fixed.   Keith Drury.

Emmanuelle_OVO
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Hey @LancastrianScot,

 

Just got an update from the team, their advice is as follows:

 

We wouldn't recommend using a start time, simply setting your ready by time in the web app should then allow you to plug and forget, resulting in the vehicle charging by the ready by time. If their charge is still refusing to charge correctly, we would advise they reach out to their installer who will be able to raise a support ticket to Indra.

 

Hope this helps. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
LancastrianScot
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Hey @LancastrianScot,

 

Just got an update from the team, their advice is as follows:

 

We wouldn't recommend using a start time, simply setting your ready by time in the web app should then allow you to plug and forget, resulting in the vehicle charging by the ready by time. If their charge is still refusing to charge correctly, we would advise they reach out to their installer who will be able to raise a support ticket to Indra.

 

Hope this helps. 

Thanks, Emmanuelle

I’m following that, but can’t test the smart charging ATM, as I’ve boosted the charge level to 100%, and can’t charge any more till I’ve used the car - perhaps at weekend.  The big unknown has been how to set up the car/My BMW app.  Should it be set on ‘Charge Immediately’, or ‘Charge in time period’ (setting for the latter a very wide time period, as Indra advised)?  In the past, BOTH these settings have been reset remotely during charging by some outside agency (presumably Kaluza??) to ‘Charge in time period’ with a seemingly random time period which caused both smart and boost charging to stop.  But this was before a firmware refresh from Indra, so I wait to see if this has worked, and will then experiment with the My BMW settings.

LancastrianScot
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Hey @LancastrianScot,

 

Just got an update from the team, their advice is as follows:

 

We wouldn't recommend using a start time, simply setting your ready by time in the web app should then allow you to plug and forget, resulting in the vehicle charging by the ready by time. If their charge is still refusing to charge correctly, we would advise they reach out to their installer who will be able to raise a support ticket to Indra.

 

Hope this helps. 

Thanks, Emmanuelle

I’m following that, but can’t test the smart charging ATM, as I’ve boosted the charge level to 100%, and can’t charge any more till I’ve used the car - perhaps at weekend.  The big unknown has been how to set up the car/My BMW app.  Should it be set on ‘Charge Immediately’, or ‘Charge in time period’ (setting for the latter a very wide time period, as Indra advised)?  In the past, BOTH these settings have been reset remotely during charging by some outside agency (presumably Kaluza??) to ‘Charge in time period’ with a seemingly random time period which caused both smart and boost charging to stop.  But this was before a firmware refresh from Indra, so I wait to see if this has worked, and will then experiment with the My BMW settings.

CLARITY AT LAST!  Confession time from me: 

It’s the car that’s at fault (my now 98%-certainty view).  From new, it hasn’t taken charge for more than 5 - 25 minutes, based on testing I’ve conducted over the last 3 weeks.  It’s a BMW 330e, built Jan 2024.  The charging control system drops the charging supplied by ANY means, including the BMW-supplied granny cable charger (i.e. completely excluding my Indra Smart Pro EV charger from the process) at random, but short, intervals.  The car either resets the charging mode to charge in time slot, inserting random, but never current, times, or it fails to fault/error mode requiring removal and reinsertion of the charger nozzle.

I notice the same problem has been raised on BMW owner forums in the past.  With no solution apparent.   😟

So I’m pretty sure it’s not a setup issue at all.  As regards fixing the car fault, our local agent can’t look at the car for a month (pressure of work to ship out the new ‘74’-plate sales!!!!!  That’s service for you!)  If there’s any further issues after they’ve checked the car, I’ll report back.

With grateful thanks to all contributors here    😅    Keith Drury

BPLightlog
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That sounds like some useful detective work @LancastrianScot - these things can become rather complex with various feeds and settings. One change at a time is often key so that you can identify cause and effect. 
It sounds poor that they can’t look at the vehicle for you quickly. 
Hope you’re managing somehow just now and it all gets put right soon 

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LancastrianScot
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That sounds like some useful detective work @LancastrianScot - these things can become rather complex with various feeds and settings. One change at a time is often key so that you can identify cause and effect. 
It sounds poor that they can’t look at the vehicle for you quickly. 
Hope you’re managing somehow just now and it all gets put right soon 

Fully agree!    Managing - yes, sort of.   As a PHEV, the thing is only 12kWhr capacity:  it’s taken 2 days of charging minutes at a time/failing/resetting/try again to get to 99% today.  But the last session was 47 minutes, without charging dropping out, using the Indra Boost setting, i.e. @ full domestic p/kWhr, not Charge Anytime.  May stick to using that boost setting till car fixed.   🤔

Thanks.  Keith Drury (retired engineer, so familiar with experimentation and forensics!!)

ChristopherS_OVO
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Hi @LancastrianScot,

 

It’s amazing to hear that you have made progress in identifying the issue! It also sounds like you have identified a group of individuals in similar circumstances to you. I appreciate you taking the time to share your journey with us as it keeps us in the loop. 

 

Please keep us updated on your progress and if you manage to get a fix to your issues!

 

Taj
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I have just had the Indra charger installed. The installer new nothing about the web app. I contacted Indra and they set up the Kaluza account, but I was still unable to log into web app. They have now told me I must only use the Kaluza web page. Has anyone had this issue and will it cause problems when I register for Charge anytime?

 

BPLightlog
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I have just had the Indra charger installed. The installer new nothing about the web app. I contacted Indra and they set up the Kaluza account, but I was still unable to log into web app. They have now told me I must only use the Kaluza web page. Has anyone had this issue and will it cause problems when I register for Charge anytime?

 

No, Charge Anytime has used their web interface since the start as far as I know. 
There’s a guide here 

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LancastrianScot
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I have just had the Indra charger installed. The installer new nothing about the web app. I contacted Indra and they set up the Kaluza account, but I was still unable to log into web app. They have now told me I must only use the Kaluza web page. Has anyone had this issue and will it cause problems when I register for Charge anytime?

 

Taj:   did you make sure you used the same username and password as for your Ovo Energy login?  Only with these data will Kaluza link to Ovo, AIUI.  I had the same issue, and had to change my login password for the web-app/Kaluza.  After which it worked fine.    Keith Drury

Taj
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Thank you @BPLightlog that seems to have connected with suspicious ease🤔. I was under the impression that I needed to log into app.Indra.co.uk. 

Taj
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Thanks for that @LancastrianScot,

I used the same email, but created a new password. It seems to have worked. I’ll see how it goes, I don’t want to tamper while I appear to be on a roll.

Taj
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On a different topic I apologise for my “new” memory failure🙄. My brain was off somewhere else, I “knew” it was wrong after I posted.

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Hi guys,

 

Ive been trying to add ovo Anytime to my account but I always get the same error! “We couldn't connect to your Ev charger” I have searched this forum and there is a another post with same error but following the solution on that post doesn't work.

Any idea’s? I have emailed ohme and Anytime team beginning of week but still no response!

 

ohme ePod and VW ID4 2024

 

 

Many thanks

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