Intelligent Octopus Setup

[jimmyb78]

If like me, with 2 EVs, intelligible for Intelligent Octopus because I also have the ‘wrong’ charger Octopus Go is a good alternative if you have a smart meter (SMETS2). Previously you were tied to a 12 month contract, however, mine is just about to expire. Contact is now linked to the standard variable price, but with 4 hours of off peak charging at 9.5 kWh - not as favourable as Intelligent, but no longer any premium above the standard variable tariff, as before. If your struggling to conect to Intelligent sign up for Go and then switch to Intelligent at any time. I would save more money on Intelligent but I’m not replacing my Sync EV charger with an OHME just to be able to charge a second EV for an extra couple of hours and save 2p kWh, it would take years to recover the costs.

You don't need to change your charger if you have a compatible car, which the Enyaq is.

Can do with 2 EVs too, just set your main car up with intelligent, then octopus can control that one. Then just charge your other EV as normal but with 2 more hours than Go and 2p cheaper per kWh.

I'm already on go but want the extra 2 hours. We have a heat pump and it could save quite a bit in the depths of winter.

[Dugaleen]

Hi all. Octopus intelligent still not enabling test charge. Spoke to Octopus this morning and it seems there is a new App coming next Tuesday version 3.74.0. This will address Skoda/Octopus clash. We will see. I asked if they could put me on the intelligent tariff and let me use Podpoint to charge at night. No dice. However, they did put me on Octopus Go with a day rate of 31.03 and night rate of 9.5 between 00.30 and 04.30. I think this will meet my needs and is in fact cheaper.

[shire-dweller]

I had the same issue. I deleted the octopus app and found an older version V3.71.1 and installed that. All worked properly and went to the test charge.

Thanks for this tip! I can confirm that the Octopus Energy app v3.71.2 has also worked for me (whereas versions 3.72.0 and 3.73.0 crash before getting to the “test charge” stage). To expand a bit on how to install older versions of the Octopus Energy app, I found the apk files for download at ApkPure:

https://apkpure.com/octopus-energy/ener ... d/versions

I was not able to install the apk files on my Samsung Android 13 phone because the security settings did not allow it (the Octopus Energy app was not listed under Settings > Security and privacy > Install unknown apps) and I did not want to root my phone. However, I found that it was easy enough to install Android Studio on my laptop and then run a virtual Android phone on the Android Emulator. Android Studio comes with a virtual Google Pixel 3a smartphone pre-installed for running in the emulator, so you don’t have to follow all those steps for creating a new virtual device, just follow the steps for opening the Virtual Device Manager and then click the play button on the Pixel 3a. Once the virtual phone was running, I just had to drag and drop the apk file on top of the phone for the apk to be installed. It was actually pretty fun, and safer than installing “random apk files found on the internet” on a real phone (in case the apk contained malware).

By the way, my car is a VW ID.3 rather than a Skoda Enyaq: This issue appears to be affecting several car makes and models, it was also reported elsewhere for the Cupra Born. Maybe it is specific to MEB platform cars — I am not sure.

[RichR]

For me, I’m getting ‘uh oh there’s been a problem’ now before it even gets to asking for my Skoda login details.

[james_scott22]

Sounds too buggy still. Think I'll just renew my octopus go for now, even if variable rate now...

[shire-dweller]

Sounds too buggy still. Think I'll just renew my octopus go for now, even if variable rate now...

Sure, Octopus describes it as a “beta” product from their labs. But consider that you only need to use the “smart charging” feature (charging controlled by the Octopus Energy app) once a month to maintain eligibility for the tariff. Then it is just like Octopus Go, only cheaper and with two extra hours per night. You could, if you wanted, turn off the Smart Charging switch in the app settings and then just charge the car as you currently do, except for once a month. Hopefully, however, you would find smart charging convenient enough, because it brings additional environmental benefits* and helps reduce the bills of all electricity consumers in the UK.**

* Other things equal (and provided that the car is plugged in long enough and depending on overall demand), Smart Charging will prioritise charging in the hours when renewable generation is highest, even if this falls outside the usual cheap-rate hours — but always charged at the lowest rate, currently 7.5p/kWh. For example, today is a Sunday and Octopus allocated 4 half-hour charging slots for my car, one of the slots being somewhat atypically between 8:00 and 8:30am. As it happens, the forecast of wind generation was minimal overnight (very weak wind), but something that was stronger at 8am than overnight was the sunlight, shining on solar panels. And it being a Sunday, overall grid demand at 8am was relatively low.

** Controlled demand-side flexibility (such as smart charging) effectively delays the need for some power transmission line upgrades and thus allows for other investments such as renewable generation to be prioritised, which in turn lowers costs. This will be more effective when wholesale gas and electricity prices are decoupled and even more effective when the government stops rewarding new oil field exploration with tax relief while withholding permission for new onshore wind, but I should stop here.

[snalbansed]

Sounds too buggy still. Think I'll just renew my octopus go for now, even if variable rate now...

I think the problems have all been activating the tariff in the first place, apart from some complaints when the Skoda servers were down so the charging couldn't be controlled during the night.

The other niggle people have is it being slow to stop the charge (at day rate) when you first plug in, but the FAQ says you can just stop the charge using the car or the Skoda app as soon as you've plugged in.

[jimmyb78]

Finally managed to switch to IO today, 2 weeks after first trying. It connected on it's 2nd try with the test charge so we're all set .

[Ken3966]

There is no issue with excessive charging after plugging in before IO notices the car is plugged and sets a schedule if you use preferred time charging set up under location. Once set to this the car stops charging within seconds until 23:30.
IO still notices it is plugged in and sets a schedule and turns charger on and off as planned.
If IO app is not working or or the Skoda server is down IO can’t tell the car is plugged in and won’t pause the charge then either. But as far as I can tell the car would still stop the charge until the preferred time and then the charger would just act like a dumb charger with the car charging under its own control from 23:30 until to level required.
I have mine set from 23:30 to 10am so I can benefit from any extra slots the following morning as happened today.

[RichR]

I gave up. Switched to Octopus Go. Though to be fair. Intelligent isn’t a perfect fit for us as we tend to let the car charge gradually throughout the week on solar excess (ie if we’re producing more than 1.4kW more than the house is using, it goes to the car). We only really need the off peak to top up the 10kWh house batteries in winter when there’s less sun.