When will Kia cars become an acceptable vehicle brand for cheap EV charging .
Best answer by Bonzo
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Userlevel 7
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- Plan Zero Hero
- 6413 replies
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26 July 2023
It’s not so much the “acceptable” part, more about Kia working with Kaluza to set up the integrations and agreements needed to make it work.
Are there any timelines you are aware of when this may happen with Kia.Aldo what is Kaluzo, please
Userlevel 7
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- Plan Zero Hero
- 6413 replies
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26 July 2023
As a forum volunteer, I’m afraid I can’t give those timescales.
Kaluza is OVO’s sister company that builds and runs some of OVO’s systems like the new billing platform and Charge Anytime.
Thank you. That’s very helpful!
You could possibly go down the route of installing a compatible charger?
My car is not recognised by OVO yet, but my charger is an Indra smart plus charger and works very well with OVO anytime. At 10p per unit its too good not to try. I wrote to Ovo later and my car is now recognised.
Yes - I think we will be heading for the Indra charger in the circumstances
If you have not got a charger then they are very good as is their back up, everything done remotely. The charge anytime has been brilliant, can come home plug it in and on the app set a time you want the car and hey presto it is charged up to the level you set at the time you set and all at 10p per kW.
I have no connection with OVO or Indra , I am just a 79 year old tech illiterate, it even works for me!
Userlevel 7
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- Plan Zero Hero
- 6413 replies
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26 July 2023
I can also vouch for Nick and verify his comments are sound. As someone who reads basically everything posted to this forum, I’ve found his comments quite useful myself. :)
There is also the option of a couple of Ohme charger points too. The Ohme Home Pro or the Ohme e Pod. We are having an untethered e Pod fitted on 03/08/23 as I didn’t want cables everywhere and wanted something small and less visable.
Poor reply from Bozo, I have already paid over £1000 for a charger that OVO say is not compatible, also been waiting over a year to have Land Rover on list of cars. Noticed OVO are charging 10ppkw, got news for you I recently changed to Octopus who have no problem connected to my car or charger and there systems operates exactly the same way as OVO but here’s the bonus they only charge 7ppkw rather than spend another £1000 on replacing charger I would check out Octopus.
Userlevel 7
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- Plan Zero Hero
- 6413 replies
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27 July 2023
But that sounds like a Time of Use tariff rather than a Type of Use tariff.
- ToU: Gives cheaper rates only at certain times of day
- TyoU: Can give cheaper rates to a particular thing all the time
They are not the same thing.
Poor reply from Bozo, I have already paid over £1000 for a charger that OVO say is not compatible, also been waiting over a year to have Land Rover on list of cars. Noticed OVO are charging 10ppkw, got news for you I recently changed to Octopus who have no problem connected to my car or charger and there systems operates exactly the same way as OVO but here’s the bonus they only charge 7ppkw rather than spend another £1000 on replacing charger I would check out Octopus.
But, and I have had poor recent OVO experience so am not a fanboy. It is clear on OVOs site that you either need a compatible car or a compatible charger……you had neither. The Octopus tariffs only gives cheap rates for 5 hours after midnight but you pay more than OVO for the other 19 hrs of each day. On a 7.2 kw home charge point that is not enough time to charge most EVs fully. You would add at best 35 kw at the cheaper rate.
Eachuser needs to consider their usage and needs before committing to a tariff.
Is the Indra lux compatible with charge anytime please . Or do have to have Pro
Userlevel 7
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- Plan Zero Hero
- 6413 replies
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27 July 2023
The Indra Pro definitely is but I don’t recall the Indra Lux being listed
Userlevel 7
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- Plan Zero Hero
- 2667 replies
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27 July 2023
Is the Indra lux compatible with charge anytime please . Or do have to have Pro
It has been asked a few times recently. In the forum search bar search for Indra Lux
For example this is the last time I think.
I have just flagged the above thread to the ovo moderators to confirm it is correct, especially as a post has been marked as the best answer in that thread by someone.
Perhaps double check with OVO
It appears, if it works, you have to be careful about how you use it with the ovo tariff. I don't think there has ever been an official reply from an ovo moderator to the question since the thread I have linked to.
Userlevel 7
Hey
The team got back to me with the following advice:
Yes, the Smart Lux is compatible. You can find the full terms here it's got eligibility under section 5 including a link to the list of compatible EVs and changepoints.
Hope this helps.
Thank you -very helpful
Userlevel 7
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- Plan Zero Hero
- 2667 replies
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28 July 2023
On the list of EV’s eligible my car is still not listed but is recognised by the Kal page, I would think that the fact that I have a smart charger , the Indra Smart Pro sort of proves the point that the list is not catching up with the number of EV’s available.
A small point but it may be putting off potential user, OVO please note..
Charge anytime is brilliant and works like a dream.
I have owned 3 Kia Niro full electric EVs over the past 3 years. I have a PodPoint solo charger.
I was part of the beta testing programme when Charge Anytime was first introduced. I am an electrical engineer and I fed back a lot of useful information during the tests.
It worked very well for the first two Kia cars (21 registration and 22 registration) giving me a saving of about £7 per full charge.
I recently changed to a 23 registration Niro EV (due to mileage restrictions on my lease), exactly the same model as the previous car.
OVO have refused to let me register my new car on the app despite the fact that I know from practical experience with the previous two Kia cars that it will work!
I suspect that I am not getting through to the technical people and that the front line responders are just following the script that ‘Kia does not work so you can’t register your car’. I have tried explaining that I have been using the app successfully for 2 years with Kia but this has not helped.
I hope that OVO will soon unlock the app to allow my Kia to be registered for Charge Anytime so I can continue to use it.
Userlevel 7
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- Plan Zero Hero
- 6413 replies
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29 October 2023
Just because it worked for you during testing, doesn’t mean it worked reliably enough to use in production though.
Volvo worked for 2019 to 2021 models, but the 2022 model completely changed literally everything and broke Charge Anytime for example.
As I keep saying, it worked on exactly the same model of Kia for a year before I changed car. I cannot fathom why OVO will not at least let me try continuing to use the app…
I am an electrical engineer and am happy to feed back information.
I have started to look round for alternative suppliers of gas and electricity that can provide cheap electricity for charging (EDF for example has a cheap rate overnight for everything, including EVs).
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