Macan 4 EV - Octopus intelligent sync issue

[stevieg]

Have you found it to be reliable Steve? Its my first run of it tonight but had a few issues when I let the EV Charger schedule previously.

Any issues with the car coming up with a charging error when it is first plugged-in if Octopus doesn't permit it to draw charge?

Also, I am assuming this is all controlled by some central Octopus server-side cleverness once configured, and it doesn't rely on the App being active on your mobile?

Cheers

Ok so you need to make sure you have completed the test charge so the Octopus App knows when your car is at home and that it has control of the MyPorsche app. It will stop the charge by creating a departure schedule in the charging section of the Porsche App and thus making the car suspend the charge. Octopus then uses this to turn the charge on and off.

The thing to do is to plug the charger in when you are at home and leave it plugged in as much as you can. The car WILL start to charge initially, as your charger will be set to start charge straight away. Within 30 minutes, but normally less than 5, the Octopus App will suspend the charge and show you a schedule in the app. Just leave the car plugged in and by whatever time and SOC you have set in the Octopus app, the car will be done.

I always make sure my target charge % is the same in both the car/Porsche App and also Octopus.

App just needs to be on your phone and logged in I think (to get the notifications). You don't need to be actively 'in the app' for it to work.

See how it goes!

 

[thealbs]

Ok so you need to make sure you have completed the test charge so the Octopus App knows when your car is at home and that it has control of the MyPorsche app. It will stop the charge by creating a departure schedule in the charging section of the Porsche App and thus making the car suspend the charge. Octopus then uses this to turn the charge on and off.

The thing to do is to plug the charger in when you are at home and leave it plugged in as much as you can. The car WILL start to charge initially, as your charger will be set to start charge straight away. Within 30 minutes, but normally less than 5, the Octopus App will suspend the charge and show you a schedule in the app. Just leave the car plugged in and by whatever time and SOC you have set in the Octopus app, the car will be done.

I always make sure my target charge % is the same in both the car/Porsche App and also Octopus.

App just needs to be on your phone and logged in I think (to get the notifications). You don't need to be actively 'in the app' for it to work.

See how it goes!

Thanks for the advice.

I wondered where that random Departure time entry had come from in the Porsche App but this explains that also!

 

[stevieg]

Yeah, got me too! It will keep updating every day to be around a week in advance. If you do charge elsewhere, you might need to turn it off or use 'Direct Charging' whatever that is!

 

[W1NGE]

It's so the Octopus app can test that it can control your car and schedule the charges as the correct time. Normally you only get 6 hours of 7p per KWh but with the App controlling it you can get AS MUCH POWER AS YOU NEED at 7p to get the car to up to 100% by the time you set on your Octopus app. It's a great way to get much more than 6 hours of cheap electric by just scheduling with your charger app.

So the test charge is essential for the Octopus App to know that it can communicate successfully.

I use Ovo Charge Anytime for the same 7p rate but no requirement for testing. Checks are made by the software before you sign up to the service.

 

[SimonEV]

The purpose of the Octopus Test is to show that they can control when the Wall Charger can stop charging the Macan.

The only way I can pass their test is to ignore the request to have charging stopped is to have it charging when the test is started. It passes the test ok.

If the test fails then I don’t have a “tested” car, but if the test is ok then I don’t think they can control it. I suspect they measure “success” as adding charge to the Macan and without the test doing anything, this would have succeeded anyway if the Macan was already charging.

I will try the wait for the white light technique. Why is it a solution?

 

[SimonEV]

Yeah, got me too! It will keep updating every day to be around a week in advance. If you do charge elsewhere, you might need to turn it off or use 'Direct Charging' whatever that is!

I think what Octopus do is set a destination charge exactly 7 days in the future to inhibit charging. The car expects to either be charging now or waiting for a destination (delay) charging.

Whilst it looks odd, it probably means that inserting a destination charge that is “now” can trigger starting a charge and the “future” request either times out or can be cancelled?

Direct Charging just means ignore any request mechanism that inhibits charging and start “now”.

 

[SimonEV]

As well as starting the Octopus Test Charge when the car’s white light is active and connecting/negotiating:

1. Move the Charge Limit down in the car e.g., to 50% so that charging is stopped

2. Start the Octopus Test Charge

3. increase the Charge Limit up in the car e.g., to 80% so that charging is no longer inhibited

The Octopus Test Charge completes Okay and the Car/Charger is activated.

 

[thealbs]

As well as starting the Octopus Test Charge when the car’s white light is active and connecting/negotiating:

1. Move the Charge Limit down in the car e.g., to 50% so that charging is stopped

2. Start the Octopus Test Charge

3. increase the Charge Limit up in the car e.g., to 80% so that charging is no longer inhibited

The Octopus Test Charge completes Okay and the Car/Charger is activated.

It's definitely a game of hit & miss but I managed to get through the Test without having to lower/raise the car's capacity. I probably just caught it at the right time by sheer chance.

The good news (although confidence is not yet that high) is that Octopus charged it perfectly last night. I left the vehicle plugged-in, removed the schedule from the Charger (effectively making it dumb) and left the car with a 80% max setting on it. I set Octopus to reach 80% also, by 7am today. My Porsche App said that charging was Paused, but seemed to go through the Initialising -> Pause cycle a few times when I checked the app from time to time.

After a short while, Octopus created 2 charging sessions (one from 3am to 3:30; and one from 3:30am to 5am for some reason). I checked it at 2:30am and nothing had changed. When I awoke at 7:15am, it was all completed. Yes, I am an insomniac at present.

I will try and stick with the approach of letting Octopus control the charging now and see if my confidence increases over time.

I also tried the 'Bump Charge' option in the Octopus app yesterday afternoon for a short period and it seemed to work as designed also.

 

[stevieg]

It's definitely a game of hit & miss but I managed to get through the Test without having to lower/raise the car's capacity. I probably just caught it at the right time by sheer chance.

The good news (although confidence is not yet that high) is that Octopus charged it perfectly last night. I left the vehicle plugged-in, removed the schedule from the Charger (effectively making it dumb) and left the car with a 80% max setting on it. I set Octopus to reach 80% also, by 7am today. My Porsche App said that charging was Paused, but seemed to go through the Initialising -> Pause cycle a few times when I checked the app from time to time.

After a short while, Octopus created 2 charging sessions (one from 3am to 3:30; and one from 3:30am to 5am for some reason). I checked it at 2:30am and nothing had changed. When I awoke at 7:15am, it was all completed. Yes, I am an insomniac at present.

I will try and stick with the approach of letting Octopus control the charging now and see if my confidence increases over time.

I also tried the 'Bump Charge' option in the Octopus app yesterday afternoon for a short period and it seemed to work as designed also.

100% the same as you but after a few nights I just trusted the process and it has never let me down... Until recently, but its an issue with my car. It won't now accept a charge faster than 3.6kw no matter what the AC charger power is. This is a car issue though as tested multiple AC chargers and it's only my car thats nobbled.

Booked in at the dealer to look at it, along with no assistance systems (all showing errors since the first cold night a week ago) and no speakers on the right of the cabin... Only got sound on the left side!

Also, note that as long as the Octopus app is driving the charger process and you have a ready time set of AFTER 5:30am, Octopus will continue to charge your car MUCH later than the cheap rate of electric... but still charge ONLY the 7p. But you must let the app schedule the charge.

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