[Sacredbicycle]

I don’t think it’s the BMW app that sets random departure times, but IO (Intelligent Octopus) adding in a future date to avoid any conflict with the IO Ready by Time. This random scheduling happens each time I plug in at home and often I even forget to delete these future schedules but the car still successfully charges overnight as expected. These random schedules are also not set when charging at work (not IO of course) which supports the theory it’s IO setting these random schedules and not BMW. Plus the fact that these random schedules only started to occur at home immediately after I switched to IO.

The thumbnail is from just now (Wednesday 06:30 hrs approx), with a random departure date of Tuesday 05:16 hrs. However the car so far has charged from 25% SOC, currently at 89% with 100% due at 07:42 hrs.

I wouldn’t focus too much time on these random schedules since they don’t impact on the charging in my 12 months experience, nor blame the issue on BMW since IO is controlling the charging (unless the home charger stops or the car has a SOC target limit set). Maybe double check that your home charger is on the absolutely ‘dumb’ mode (switch off smart mode/timers/off peak scheduling, etc in the home charger) and/or contact Octopus.

View attachment 36790

Mine is doing exactly the same, I think the issue is also with IO setting the random times.
A couple of times it hasn't charged between the IO off peak time slot, looking at the BMW app today it was showing a random slot tomorrow at ~7.52, feeling worried it wouldn't charge tonight, I adjusted the slot times manually on the BMW app and set a pre-conditioning leave by time, when I saved it, the car started charging for a couple of mins then paused again, both the IO app and BMW app are now showing the same time slot. Fingers crossed it will be OK. It is just a bit disconcerting for all users of IO.
If it fails, I might just set my charger to charge between the 23.00 - 05.30 off peak slot, as I have now discovered is an off peak slot for the whole house not just the EV charger.

 

[StuMac]

Mine is doing exactly the same, I think the issue is also with IO setting the random times.
A couple of times it hasn't charged between the IO off peak time slot, looking at the BMW app today it was showing a random slot tomorrow at ~7.52, feeling worried it wouldn't charge tonight, I adjusted the slot times manually on the BMW app and set a pre-conditioning leave by time, when I saved it, the car started charging for a couple of mins then paused again, both the IO app and BMW app are now showing the same time slot. Fingers crossed it will be OK. It is just a bit disconcerting for all users of IO.
If it fails, I might just set my charger to charge between the 23.00 - 05.30 off peak slot, as I have now discovered is an off peak slot for the whole house not just the EV charger.

My BMW app does this also, I think it is just a weird way the integration works. MyBMW app and my Octopus app both show different times, but so far anyway, my car has indeed charged in line with the schedule in the Octopus app. I'll be plugging my car in for its weekly charge tomorrow afternoon. I will feed back what both app's schedule shows and what happens with the actual charge times.

 

[StuMac]

Ok for me today - MyBMW/the car is set to charge immediately. Plug it in and Octopus gives me a notification they have set a schedule, as below. MyBMW app has set a departure time of Thurs 12:22 and says charging will end at ~21:48. The car is currently charging fine and will be at the 7.5p/kwh. I fully expect it to stop in line with the Octo app @ 4pm then start charging again at 9pm until 4am or it gets to 90%.

See the third snip Below, charging did stop at 4pm as per the Octo App. MyBMW has charging set to 'planned' with a charge start time @ ~Tomorrow 11:36, departure time has also been changed to Thurs 14:38.
I expect it to start charging at 9pm tonight as per the Octo app.

ok, final update. The car did not start charging bang on 9 pm but was charging by 21:07.
I did get a notification from Octopus App @ 21:05 that it couldn't control my device, but after a few minutes the charging resumed. Part of that might be due to the last update MyBMW app received from the car?

Charging resumed MyBMW now shows a stop time of ~06:18, although I expect 4 am unless it gets to 90% beforehand. Departure time is now Thurs 19:37

Long story short - If using IO and letting it control the ccars charge schedule, ignore the times you see in the MyBMW app. To me, the IO integration must be setting times way out but then kicks back in as soon as it talks to the car at each change of charge state based on its schedule. I have only had teh car for 5 weeks, but all 4 weekly charges have worked just like described here.

I have also observed that when the schedule (like mine tonight) has two slots back to back like 09:00pm - 09:30pm, then 09:30pm - 04:am, that it ca stop a few minutes early before restarting again a few minutes later... on the whole, following the schedule set in the Octo app. They do say its using 'Kraken's machine learning', so likely that it makes small adjustments or its not exactly on the 30 min slot but the app rounds up and down to nearest half hour display slot. Anyway hope any of this helps.

 

[Sacredbicycle]

Ok for me today - MyBMW/the car is set to charge immediately. Plug it in and Octopus gives me a notification they have set a schedule, as below. MyBMW app has set a departure time of Thurs 12:22 and says charging will end at ~21:48. The car is currently charging fine and will be at the 7.5p/kwh. I fully expect it to stop in line with the Octo app @ 4pm then start charging again at 9pm until 4am or it gets to 90%.

See the third snip Below, charging did stop at 4pm as per the Octo App. MyBMW has charging set to 'planned' with a charge start time @ ~Tomorrow 11:36, departure time has also been changed to Thurs 14:38.
I expect it to start charging at 9pm tonight as per the Octo app.

View attachment 37066 View attachment 37067 View attachment 37070

Mine charged ok last night after I edited the slot. However, it didn't pre-conditiion which was annoying. Looking at the climate settings my pre-condition was disabled, despite me activating it last night.

I think I will try again tomorrow and just leave it alone and see what happens, as I won't need a full charge over the weekend.

 

[StuMac]

Not that it matters, but I think it is interesting. Just received my bill for last month and it includes my Charge cycle on Friday detailed above. You can see the billing change in line with the Octo app smart charge schedule.

 

[Sacredbicycle]

Not that it matters, but I think it is interesting. Just received my bill for last month and it includes my Charge cycle on Friday detailed above. You can see the billing change in line with the Octo app smart charge schedule.

View attachment 37128

It's amazing that they allow charging during the day, I was initially worried about it, however when the bill came through just like yours it was charged at the lower rate. My charge on Saturday was pretty much all peak hours which the IO selected so I left it alone. It just seems odd that it interferes with with the BMW schedule which is annoying.
At least it's not just me 😁

 

[duncanjhankins]

Ok, so I don't have my car yet, but I'll be signing up to the IO scheme, is there a definitive 'how 2' for charging with this scheme and a smart charger (I have the Ohme Pro). Is there a way to tell it you only want to charge at the low rate, as all my running cost calcs are done based on this.

 

[StuMac]

Ok, so I don't have my car yet, but I'll be signing up to the IO scheme, is there a definitive 'how 2' for charging with this scheme and a smart charger (I have the Ohme Pro). Is there a way to tell it you only want to charge at the low rate, as all my running cost calcs are done based on this.

HI Duncan, congrats on picking one of the best EV's available!

Its pretty straightforward, some bullet points are below. PM me if you want any more info.

Your Ohme might be one the IO can talk directly with, if not it can talk directly with your car.
I have a PodPoint, set to 'simple mode' charge immediately.
Car is set to charge immediately.
With IO you always get 23:30 - 05:30 @ 7.5p/KW
I set my desired SOC to be 90% for 4 am, this helps push extra charge slots during Peak times that (as above) get charged at 7.5p.
The key thing is the initial test charge you need to set in the Octo App, after that it should all just work.
Ignore the random times you will see in the BMW app, it's just the way that IO integrates with the BMW app.
You can check that your car is charging in the set window via the BMW app, but double-check the last update from car time in the BMW app.

 

[MINi4]

EV public charging costs | RAC Charge Watch | RAC Drive

RAC Charge Watch is the RAC's initiative that monitors the average cost of charging an electric car so that you get a fair price. Read more about it here.

www.rac.co.uk

or if on Intelligent Octopus Go, only 2.5p per mile assuming 3mi/kWh efficiency and that’s not even considering cheap rate (overnight and additional ‘bonus’ charge plan slots) electricity for the home 😃. A graphic illustration to anyone who’s given up getting IO correctly integrated and should persevere to determine what setting is blocking it?

 

[Iridium]

Question for those using IO in the UK.

What do Octopus need to be granted access to and what information are they collecting from the car? Do they only see the car when it’s plugged in on your home charge point, or are they tracking your use (location etc) when not at home?

I have asked them directly but not had an answer of any kind (which kind of goes against their customer support team).

 

[AndyJ]

Question for those using IO in the UK.

What do Octopus need to be granted access to and what information are they collecting from the car? Do they only see the car when it’s plugged in on your home charge point, or are they tracking your use (location etc) when not at home?

I have asked them directly but not had an answer of any kind (which kind of goes against their customer support team).

When you plug it in, Octopus will "know" and then determine whether a charging plan should be created. If your car is at your home location, it will do so; if elsewhere it won't. Thus it must know the car's location but the question at that point is: does it save that information for some reporting/statistical/whatever purpose? That I don't know and I guess you can only know by either (a) asking them; or (b) submitting a data access request to see all the information they have on you. If they are storing your remote charging locations then it would be reasonable to assume they will be doing something (or have some intention/thought of doing something) with it.

 

[AndyJ]

or if on Intelligent Octopus Go, only 2.5p per mile assuming 3mi/kWh efficiency and that’s not even considering cheap rate (overnight and additional ‘bonus’ charge plan slots) electricity for the home 😃. A graphic illustration to anyone who’s given up getting IO correctly integrated and should persevere to determine what setting is blocking it?

I'm glad I persevered: often get additional cheap electricity slots outside the standard cheap rate time period.

 

[MINi4]

What do Octopus need to be granted access to and what information are they collecting from the car? Do they only see the car when it’s plugged in on your home charge point, or are they tracking your use (location etc) when not at home?

Octopus reply via X:
The Octopus app needs access to either the EV or the charger depending on which integration that they would connect to so that it can tell the car to charge. The app would need location settings to be enabled so that it knows that the car/phone is at the property. The app wouldn't be tracking the use of the car when not at home, all it would know is that it isn't at the property and is unplugged.

 

[duncanjhankins]

Has anyone written for want of a better term 'how 2' for how to set up the IO/BMW apps, or is it as easy as the Ohme instructions say?

 

[Sacredbicycle]

When you plug it in, Octopus will "know" and then determine whether a charging plan should be created. If your car is at your home location, it will do so; if elsewhere it won't. Thus it must know the car's location but the question at that point is: does it save that information for some reporting/statistical/whatever purpose? That I don't know and I guess you can only know by either (a) asking them; or (b) submitting a data access request to see all the information they have on you. If they are storing your remote charging locations then it would be reasonable to assume they will be doing something (or have some intention/thought of doing something) with it.

From what I have read they need to know, your home charger make, and your car manufacturer, once added into the app it will let you know if both are compatible. You will need to let Octopus trust your BMW app by authorising it. (this is so it can set a schedule) It will then ask you plug your charger into your car and let it charge. It's important to have your charger set to instant charging with no schedule set and the same for the car. Also make sure you need to charge the car, e.g. it's not 100% (I would recommend it being around 50-60%) as it can take while for IO to detect the car is charging. (up to 30 mins)
The IO app sets a random future schedule and ready by times, which I initially thought was incorrect, however they are just to make sure it will charge in the overnight cheap timeslot.
Last week it started charging during the day as IO had mapped a off peak rate which is brilliant.
As for privacy, I doubt if they are tracking anything, as it says in the app that if you have 2 EV's the 2nd one will need to be plugged in during the 23:30-05:30 time slot or set the charger to only charge between these hours. As they can only set an automatic schedule for one vehicle. All household electricity used between 23:30-05:30 is the cheap 7.5p pKW

 

[Iridium]

When you plug it in, Octopus will "know" and then determine whether a charging plan should be created. If your car is at your home location, it will do so; if elsewhere it won't. Thus it must know the car's location but the question at that point is: does it save that information for some reporting/statistical/whatever purpose? That I don't know and I guess you can only know by either (a) asking them; or (b) submitting a data access request to see all the information they have on you. If they are storing your remote charging locations then it would be reasonable to assume they will be doing something (or have some intention/thought of doing something) with it.

Thanks for that response . I will try asking them again and see how transparent they want to be.

 

[Russkin]

HI Duncan, congrats on picking one of the best EV's available!

Its pretty straightforward, some bullet points are below. PM me if you want any more info.

Your Ohme might be one the IO can talk directly with, if not it can talk directly with your car.
I have a PodPoint, set to 'simple mode' charge immediately.
Car is set to charge immediately.
With IO you always get 23:30 - 05:30 @ 7.5p/KW
I set my desired SOC to be 90% for 4 am, this helps push extra charge slots during Peak times that (as above) get charged at 7.5p.
The key thing is the initial test charge you need to set in the Octo App, after that it should all just work.
Ignore the random times you will see in the BMW app, it's just the way that IO integrates with the BMW app.
You can check that your car is charging in the set window via the BMW app, but double-check the last update from car time in the BMW app.

I had problems initially with the car not charging , or stopping mid-charge, but I think it was our Project EV wall charger not supplying power when the car needed it. Spoke to Project EV who upgraded the firmware remotely and said the box should now be controllable by Octopus. Last night it worked perfectly. I agree that you just ignore the random times that the BMW app shows, as it kicks in as per the Octopus schedule.

 

[BMW_Manc]

Sorry to be a pain, but this combination of i4 M50 + Ohme Charger Pro + Intelligent Octopus EV is driving me nuts!

The departure times keep changing in my car, and the charging window too. I just want the car (which is still amazing BTW) to charge, and charge cheaply.

Can someone tell me what I’m doing wrong?

BMW i4 M50 settings
Charge start 11.03am and end at 5.23am
Aim 80%
Departure time 6.50am 7 days a week.

Ohme Charger settings
Charge immediately

Octopus Intelligent Settings
Ready by 5.30am
90% charge limit

It’s all connecting fine, but I am weary of being charge 30p kWh instead of 7.5p!

All help is appreciated, thanks!

 

[AndyJ]

Sorry to be a pain, but this combination of i4 M50 + Ohme Charger Pro + Intelligent Octopus EV is driving me nuts!

The departure times keep changing in my car, and the charging window too. I just want the car (which is still amazing BTW) to charge, and charge cheaply.

Can someone tell me what I’m doing wrong?

BMW i4 M50 settings
Charge start 11.03am and end at 5.23am
Aim 80%
Departure time 6.50am 7 days a week.

Ohme Charger settings
Charge immediately

Octopus Intelligent Settings
Ready by 5.30am
90% charge limit

It’s all connecting fine, but I am weary of being charge 30p kWh instead of 7.5p!

All help is appreciated, thanks!

This is how it works. Your charger is set to charge immediately so that it can provide a charge when the car requests it. When you plug the car in, it should start to charge immediately. In around 2 mins, Octopus will have detected your car was plugged in, pause the charge and create a charging plan - it may look a bit weird, but it will work. It will set a charge plan in your car that is arbitrary so as not to conflict with the Octopus plan. IGNORE THE PLAN THST YOUR CAR INFORMS YOU OF VIA MyBMW. when the right time arrives on the Octopus plan your car will start to charge IRRESPECTIVE of any plan set up in your car. As soon as your car starts charging as per the Octopus charging plan, you pay the cheap rate for all electricity in your house.

I’ll reiterate it: Octopus will create a charging plan reported to you via their app (and website); it will set a completely different plan in your car WHICH WILL BE IGNORED. Your car will charge as per the Octopus plan not the plan that is set in the car. It’s a little confusing because Octopus sets both plans but it will work fine.
Apparently you can stop the car charging during the time of plug in and Octopus pausing it, but that time period has always been very short for me so not worth worrying about.

 

[BMW_Manc]

Andy, that’s super helpful, thank you.

So from what you’re saying, I need to change the i4 settings to ‘charge immediately,’ and keep the Ohme Charger as it is (charge immediately), and let Octopus deal with the rest?