Electric vehicle (EV) charger - Ohme or Indra: which is best?

Hi,

If you have Solar, then the Indra one is probably the better option for Charge Anytime, since it can try to use solar power first when charging a connected EV, rather than relying on the grid. I’ll see if I can get a few other members to stop by and give their thoughts too.

Bear with us!

Got solar panels? Right now solar panels aren't compatible with Charge Anytime (unless you have an Indra Pro Smart Charger). But we're working to make this happen soon – watch this space.

https://www.ovoenergy.com/electric-cars/charge-anytime

Shall we have a smart charger battle?

For the Indra team: @simongrigg @kentbod @domino138 @am84 @FatOldSun @stead @richhyder490 

For the Ohme team: @Dark @mirving123 @GaryxG @Priceyred @Landor @simonk1969 @Millwardt 

Which is better?

Currently the Ohme charger works with both Octopus Intelligent and OVO Anytime so you do have some choice of tariff with this charger depending on your setup (eg if you have solar) 

It is such a fast moving area though.…

I guess what wouldn't make sense is to install a different charger to these 2 makes right now.... 

Well, solar matching seems quite temperamental with the Indra. Yesterday the Zoe was plugged in and solar matching was on, it was a sunny morning and yet the charging didn’t start till later in the morning when the clouds started to roll in, so it took a little bit from the grid to keep going. It charged all the way to 100% though.

Today it’s a lovely day with clear skies, I have the Enyaq plugged in, but in solar matching mode it only charges for a few minutes before stopping. I’ve had problems starting solar matching with both the Zoe and the Enyaq but it’s definitely worse with the Enyaq. I’ve also had a few charger errors where it’s needed a hard reset from the RCBO.

I have a ticket open with Indra to investigate these issues, so hopefully they can be solved.

I’ve had several issues with Indra recently and i think it’s to do with the solar setting. 
when charging through solar and hitting more than the 1.4kwh it tends to stop charging and show a red Led which shows the charger isn’t working. Yesterday as it was sunny I plugged in and looked later on it was boosting so outside my OVo anytime tariff.I’m putting it down to the solar mode as I haven’t had many other problems over the winter with no 🌞 😂

Indra chargers faster than our previous pod point. Will charge at 7.4kwh but we have issues with it tripping. 

For a smart charger I'm surprised we have to turn the speed down in the car to stop it tripping, in our model 3 over 29amps generally causes it to trip at some point, in our phev which draws a max of 16amps it's still tripped once or twice.

I'm not sure why it does it, it's not often unless at the fill 32amps and we've charged the tesla from 1% to 100% before at 32 amps with no issues then other times it just says no and we have to reset. 

Simplicity same though I like it, we don't use any apps just the Web interface and it sorts itself out, we don't have solar so can't comment on that side of it 

So it seems they both have a number a of Minor niggles. Im starting to have second thoughts. Ive had a podpoint for 16 months & not had a single issue 

An unexpected and dramatic turn of events at this Indra vs Ohme battle, with Podpoint jumping into the ring!

I saw that on the other post. Has this been confirmed by OVO to work or is there a date when it will be??

Nothing yet! But no doubt that OVO will be able to explore adding support for PodPoint

Newbie here, about to collect my Kia Niro EV. Very helpful forum topics & responses, thanks, which I’ve been researching

As Kia’s not on the list of compatible manufacturers/cars, I’m looking at a compatible, untethered charger (once we’ve also had a Smart Meter installed & activated Charge Anytime). I’m keen to simplify with charger & installation from OVO, too

https://www.ovoenergy.com/electric-cars/smart-charger#choose

has “Ohme Home Pro - Tethered (untethered coming soon)”. Does anyone know if/when untethered will come? The Ohme ePod is untethered, yet not offered for installation by OVO. Is that on the horizon/is that the “coming soon”?

It seems that Ohme has more & better reviews on Trustpilot than Indra, whose Smart PRO would be the current untethered option from OVO, I think. Indra has longer warranty & Wifi connectivity

Any other considerations on choosing, please (don’t have solar)?

Almost all Ohme and Indra chargers are supported by Charge Anytime, with the exception of their Ohme smart cable. :)

As for considerations… It depends really on what you need. No solar means either could work.

That’s helpful, thanks

Guess I was wondering if the ePod might soon be offered for installation by OVO or, if not, better to get direct install from Ohme
 

I saw the earlier post on “smart charger battle” 😀

It’s possible OVO might add it to the list, but I’d suggest going via Ohme for now if you’d rather not wait.

I went for the Indra. I don't have solar yet, but plan to, so it was the logical choice of the two.  

Mine has been mostly fine, but has lost its internet connection a few times. Indras can use ethernet, WiFi or 4g, and mine is currently on 4g. I've had a chat with the installer and we may change it to direct ethernet if it misbehaves regularly.

Other than that, it's been totally straightforward, just plug in and wait until the appointed 'ready by' time.

I’m currently having this dilemma for an untethered (preferred by partner) charger for. Kia eNiro car.  The ePod is now supported by Ovo and I could have it installed by a local electrical contractor that I’ve known for many years ( I assume they’ll sort the connection to Ovo during commissioning). 
But, I had a quick look at the Ohme App on the Apple App Store and there’s quite a few disappointed users who are having issues.  I sorted into most recent order so as to avoid any early app development issues.   Are there any ePod users on here who can provide reassurances or other comment.

Paul, I had the Ohme ePod installed by a local Ohme-approved firm last August, using with my Kia Niro.

It’s been fine so far. Only point to watch for on the Ohme app (I’m on Android) is that we make sure to connect first to the car via the KiaConnect app to get latest SoC before plugging in and approving the charge on the Ohme app, as the latter would sometimes start from an outdated value (or be unable to read it).

We’re on OVO Charge Anytime and that’s also working well. Slight misalignment between the Charge Anytime monthly credit view and the actual OVO billing period, which begins partway through the month. I guess I might be able to align those, but haven’t been that bothered.

Hope that helps

As far as I can see, there is no untethered version of the Ohme Home Pro.  It’s not listed on their own web site. To me it looks like their options are the tethered Home Pro or the untethered ePod.  I’d prefer an untethered Home Pro myself for the display screen but it doesn’t seem an option.