Issues connecting my Volvo with a SIM to Charge Anytime

Hi ​@BrianE ,

Please be advised that Charge Anytime doesn’t like Granny Chargers. You should consider a proper EV Charger instead, especially for long-term use. Granny Chargers are really only for occasional charging and shouldn’t be your primary method!

IIRC we’re talking just a few MB per day at most.

Hey ​@BrianE 

Blastoise186 has left some really good advice here, granny chargers are not support by Charge Anytime. You may still be able to charge the car, but it may not function to it’s full capability with Charge Anytime and we recommend a compatible charger or linking through a compatible car. What model is your Volvo?

The following topic may also be helpful:

Hope this helps.

Hi ​@Abby_OVO ,

I went through the compatibility questions on the website and the result was that I could connect through my car and use a 3-pin socket. My car is a Volvo  XC60 T6 Recharge 2021 plug-in hybrid. The battery is only 11.6KwH so should charge in 3-4 hours. I’ve installed a socket that is approved for EVs and protected by an RCBO.

One reason I’ve gone for this solution rather than a dedicated charger (apart from cost!) is that I’m parking the car on hard standing next to my garage which is some distance from the house, and the current power supply would be inadequate for a 7kW charger.

This does mean that I’m out of WiFi range, hence going down the route of an in-car SIM. I’ll try 10GB, that should be more than adequate? Does this all sound OK?

Hi, I’ve got a Hypervolt and it’s using about 15-20MB per day, though guess there may be certain days, eg firmware updates that completely change that.

colin

Morning ​@BrianE,

As it’s a plug in hybrid that won’t take much to charge then it should be fine in that sense, especially as the compatibility questions have been signed off as ok. In terms of the in-car SIM, 10gb should be enough - please do keep us updated on your progress with this, we’d appreciate it.

Cheers 😁

Morning ​@Ben_OVO,

I now have a SIM in the car, but am having trouble connecting to Charge Anytime.

I log on, enter the car details, and I’m then asked to sign in to my Volvo account. I enter ID and password, and then get a verification code by email. Enter the code and click Verify, then get a message ‘Connection Problem. Volvo is experiencing issues, and is currently unreachable. Please try again later’. 

I’ve tried many times, yesterday and today. I can log in to my Volvo account fine on my PC.

Is this something you can help with?

Thanks, Brian

Possible cause:

https://status.enode.com/incidents/01JQNSF9F6RPJR5SDJ6RA66XD8

Please monitor that incident for updates

Thanks, I’ll keep my eye on it.

Latest update from Enode says they are working on a fix: that was yesterday at 13.09. I still get the same error message 😒

I’m afraid it won’t work until Enode fixes the upstream issue

I’ve made some progress, but not there yet;

• Charge anytime app is now connected to the car via the Volvo app
• I’ve set the car location and schedule
• The app now tells me the car is unplugged. It’s not - I plugged it in an hour ago.
• The car is connected to the internet via the sim/modem, at least it was when I last looked

Any ideas please? I’m impatient to get that 7p rate!

Enode isn’t fully back up yet - I’d keep an eye on that because it might not be stable yet.

Otherwise, I guess it’ll just be a case of waiting until the vehicle checks in.

Just wanted to check-in with this one. Are things fully up now?

If not, the Charge Anytime team wants to dig the logs. Please reach out to them via 0330 175 9678 Option 2 or chargeanytime@ovo.com and they’ll take a look.

Hey ​@BrianE 

How are things looking now?

As Blastoise186 has mentioned, if you’re still having issues it’ll definitely be a good idea to reach out to the Charge Anytime team.

Let us know how you’re getting on.

I still have the same message: Car Unplugged. I’ll give the team a call.

Morning ​@BrianE!

Did you get through to Charge Anytime yesterday? I know they do have contact with Enode so I’m wondering whether they gave you any further updates?

Thanks ​@BrianE - appreciate the update. Fingers crossed they get this fixed ASAP so you’re not left waiting 🤞 

If you could keep us updated on your progress we’d appreciate it, cheers.

Update: the issue appears to resolved now. The Volvo app wasn’t registering the car’s location correctly - it did intermittently, but then reverted to the location of the dealer I bought it from. I contacted their support team, and was told that I needed to subscribe to the Volvo app for all functionality to work (subscription had expired). This is despite me reading online somewhere that this isn’t necessary for Charge Anytime to work. Anyway, I paid my £37 and Thursday night was my first chance to test it. So far so good, though I’m not sure how often the app is meant to update? It seems a bit random.

Brian

The CA app will update anytime it gets new data from your vehicle.