Ovo Charge Anytime & My Porsche app Direct Charging question?

[Tango22]

Hi all,

Quick question for those of you on Ovo.

My charger is linked to Ovo Charge Anytime, not my car. So CA manages everything which is fine as it works as it should.

I have a charging profile set up in the My Porsche app that I named '80' as its the one I use most of the time to charge the car to 80%.

If I want to charge the car to 100% however, do I need to set up another charge profile in the Porsche app and set the minimum charge to 100%? As far as I know, if activate 'Direct Charging' within the Porsche app charging section, the charger (Zappi 2.1) will ignore any charging profiles that are active (for example my '80' profile) and charge the car to full 100% capacity.

But here is my question - If I activate Direct Charging in order to get the car to 100%, will that mean the car is still charging on the cheap Ovo 7p per kWh or will Direct Charging mean its essentially like pressing 'Charge Now' in the Ovo app which means it charges at the higher rate of whatever domestic tariff you are on?

Hope that makes sense?

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[tophamn]

Hi all,

Quick question for those of you on Ovo.

My charger is linked to Ovo Charge Anytime, not my car. So CA manages everything which is fine as it works as it should.

I have a charging profile set up in the My Porsche app that I named '80' as its the one I use most of the time to charge the car to 80%.

If I want to charge the car to 100% however, do I need to set up another charge profile in the Porsche app and set the minimum charge to 100%? As far as I know, if activate 'Direct Charging' within the Porsche app charging section, the charger (Zappi 2.1) will ignore any charging profiles that are active (for example my '80' profile) and charge the car to full 100% capacity.

But here is my question - If I activate Direct Charging in order to get the car to 100%, will that mean the car is still charging on the cheap Ovo 7p per kWh or will Direct Charging mean its essentially like pressing 'Charge Now' in the Ovo app which means it charges at the higher rate of whatever domestic tariff you are on?

Hope that makes sense?

OK, I'm on Octopus, not Ovo, but also have a Zappi being controlled by the supplier, not the car (Ovo users can step in if what I say isn't correct).

I too use a single profile to limit the charge. If I want a different level of charge I change the % set in the profile, but equally you could activate another profile with a different setting or use direct charging to hit 100%.

What's important to note is that Zappi has no way to talk to your car - so it had no idea what level of charge you have, nor what profile/timer settings are. So, if you activate direct charging in the car it can't get the Zappi to provide power until Ovo tells it to.

The way it works with Octopus is I set a % charge to add (Octopus knows what the car is, thus the battery size), always more than I know the car needs. When I plug in Octopus schedules the charge and provides power to the car during the set periods - at their cheap rate. The profile in the car then limits the maximum battery charge level - when it reaches this level it won't charge further, even though Zappi may well still be trying to charge. As noted above: neither Zappi nor Octopus have any clue what the level of change in the car is at any point, nor what profile & timer settings you have.

Apologies for this ramble - I don't feel like I've described things well but I hope you get the gist.

 

[W1NGE]

Hi all,

Quick question for those of you on Ovo.

My charger is linked to Ovo Charge Anytime, not my car. So CA manages everything which is fine as it works as it should.

I have a charging profile set up in the My Porsche app that I named '80' as its the one I use most of the time to charge the car to 80%.

If I want to charge the car to 100% however, do I need to set up another charge profile in the Porsche app and set the minimum charge to 100%? As far as I know, if activate 'Direct Charging' within the Porsche app charging section, the charger (Zappi 2.1) will ignore any charging profiles that are active (for example my '80' profile) and charge the car to full 100% capacity.

But here is my question - If I activate Direct Charging in order to get the car to 100%, will that mean the car is still charging on the cheap Ovo 7p per kWh or will Direct Charging mean its essentially like pressing 'Charge Now' in the Ovo app which means it charges at the higher rate of whatever domestic tariff you are on?

Hope that makes sense?

Do not enable direct charge as that will skip the automated Ovo Anytime rate.

Normally you let Ovo talk to the car (PCM) and not rely on programming your EVSE or using the My Porsche App. Only the Ovo app would be used. Conflicts will arise otherwise.

Profiles don't come into play when using Ovo Charge Anytime. Basically, profiles and timers should be disabled when using the Ovo app to avoid conflict.

Using My Porsche App for charging control outwith Ovo would require a daily timer and profile combination for J1.1 Taycans. J1.2 (facelift MY25+) changed this and now uses a departure timer with advanced settings for a preferred time charging window.

Any reason why you don't let Ovo connect direct your car?

 

[tophamn]

Do not enable direct charge as that will skip the automated Ovo Anytime rate.

No it won't because Ovo is controlling the EVSE. The car cannot charge unless Ovo enables the EVSE to provide power, irrespective of any setting in the car.

 

[W1NGE]

No it won't because Ovo is controlling the EVSE. The car cannot charge unless Ovo enables the EVSE to provide power, irrespective of any setting in the car.

I am a long time user of Ovo Charge Anytime.

I have a Porsche Mobile Charger Connect EVSE.

Ovo connects to the PCM using my Porsche Connect ID to onboard the car and to control any charging session.

Using the Ovo Charge Anytime app a charging session is defined setting ready by, target charge etc. When active you can see the config in use on the PCM (and My Porsche app) which are then automatically deleted at the end of the charging session.

There is no way for Ovo to connect to my EVSE as it is on a private network.

 

[tophamn]

I am a long time user of Ovo Charge Anytime.

I have a Porsche Mobile Charger Connect EVSE.

Ovo connects to the PCM using my Porsche Connect ID to onboard the car and to control any charging session.

Using the Ovo Charge Anytime app a charging session is defined setting ready by, target charge etc. When active you can see the config in use on the PCM (and My Porsche app) which are then automatically deleted at the end of the charging session.

There is no way for Ovo to connect to my EVSE as it is on a private network.

Yes, I understand that - but in Tango22's case he has Ovo controlling the EVSE, not the car.

For me letting Octopus control the car just didn't work reliably, yet control of my Zappi EVSE has not let me down.

 

[W1NGE]

Yes, I understand that - but in Tango22's case he has Ovo controlling the EVSE, not the car.

For me letting Octopus control the car just didn't work reliably, yet control of my Zappi EVSE has not let me down.

The point of Ovo was the direct comms with the car via the PCM piggybacking on the same account as your Porsche Connect ID - perhaps OP should try that and skip the EVSE route.

Worked flawlessly for me but have heard Octopus not so much.

Anytime app is being replaced with Ovo Charge and extends current functionality.

 

[f1eng]

The point of Ovo was the direct comms with the car via the PCM piggybacking on the same account as your Porsche Connect ID - perhaps OP should try that and skip the EVSE route.

Worked flawlessly for me but have heard Octopus not so much.

Anytime app is being replaced with Ovo Charge and extends current functionality.

This is what I do since I don't have a modern charger that can talk to the OVO app.
It works fine but the downside is I don't get low price charging for my plug in hybrid which can't talk to the Ovo app whereas if I updated my charger I would be able to use it for both.

 

[Tango22]

Thanks for the replies, everyone

I've confirmed the answer to the question I posed. Yesterday I was out driving all day and when I got home I plugged in and set the charging profiles to 80% in the Porsche app. Ready by time in the Ovo Charge app was set to 0700 the next morning.

But I had a phone call at 8:00pm last night which resulted in my plans for today being changed and I wanted a 100% charge as I was going to be leaving early this morning and driving a good distance, so I decided to tap the 'Direct Charging' button and see what happened.

Worked perfectly, on the 80% charging profile the car was using, it simply ignored that and charged to 100%. Was ready by 0430 ish according to the alerts on my phone when I looked this morning.

I then checked my Ovo Charge app and the charge had indeed recorded as a 'Smart Charge' at the 7p per kWh rate.

Job done

 

[tophamn]

Thanks for the replies, everyone

I've confirmed the answer to the question I posed. Yesterday I was out driving all day and when I got home I plugged in and set the charging profiles to 80% in the Porsche app. Ready by time in the Ovo Charge app was set to 0700 the next morning.

But I had a phone call at 8:00pm last night which resulted in my plans for today being changed and I wanted a 100% charge as I was going to be leaving early this morning and driving a good distance, so I decided to tap the 'Direct Charging' button and see what happened.

Worked perfectly, on the 80% charging profile the car was using, it simply ignored that and charged to 100%. Was ready by 0430 ish according to the alerts on my phone when I looked this morning.

I then checked my Ovo Charge app and the charge had indeed recorded as a 'Smart Charge' at the 7p per kWh rate.

Job done

Just to check...

• Do you still have Ovo controlling Zappi, not the car?
• Did the charge start as soon as you tapped "Direct Charging", or only when Ovo scheduled a cheap window?

 

[W1NGE]

Thanks for the replies, everyone

I've confirmed the answer to the question I posed. Yesterday I was out driving all day and when I got home I plugged in and set the charging profiles to 80% in the Porsche app. Ready by time in the Ovo Charge app was set to 0700 the next morning.

But I had a phone call at 8:00pm last night which resulted in my plans for today being changed and I wanted a 100% charge as I was going to be leaving early this morning and driving a good distance, so I decided to tap the 'Direct Charging' button and see what happened.

Worked perfectly, on the 80% charging profile the car was using, it simply ignored that and charged to 100%. Was ready by 0430 ish according to the alerts on my phone when I looked this morning.

I then checked my Ovo Charge app and the charge had indeed recorded as a 'Smart Charge' at the 7p per kWh rate.

Job done

Why did you not set the charge level in the Ovo app - you can set minimum and maximum - I would advise against using your hybrid approach if I'm honest?

Also - are you now using Ovo Charge app rather than the legacy Ovo Charge Anytime (both currently co-exist)?

 

[Tango22]

Just to check...

• Do you still have Ovo controlling Zappi, not the car?
• Did the charge start as soon as you tapped "Direct Charging", or only when Ovo scheduled a cheap window?

Yes, Ovo still controlling the Zappi in MNGD mode. I had started the charge under the 80% max profile and was about 15 mins in when I then hit the 'Direct Charging' button in the Porsche app. At that point it was already charging (I guess Sunday evenings are a quiet time for grid useage) and it merrily carried on without complaint.

Why did you not set the charge level in the Ovo app - you can set minimum and maximum - I would advise against using your hybrid approach if I'm honest?

No, you can't if the Zappi is integrated to Ovo and running under MNDG mode rather than the car being integrated/talking to Ovo. The only options you get in the Ovo Charge app when in MNGD mode are the 'Ready By' time and the 'Urgent Charge' option. The Zappi was fitted a few weeks ago and the Ovo engineer said that if going onto Charge Anytime the most efficient way to have it linked up was to integrate the Zappi rather than the car.

Using the Porsche app to tweak what I need to works perfectly well for me in tandem with the Ovo Charge app - the only thing I'll ever need to change in the Porsche app is the required charge level and now I know the Direct Charging button works its a simple single push of a button to do that. Interested to know why you believe a 'hybrid' approach is inadvisable?

Also - are you now using Ovo Charge app rather than the legacy Ovo Charge Anytime (both currently co-exist)?

Yes, using Ovo Charge, which coincidentally received an update today if you are running an iOS device.

 

[W1NGE]

Yes, Ovo still controlling the Zappi in MNGD mode. I had started the charge under the 80% max profile and was about 15 mins in when I then hit the 'Direct Charging' button in the Porsche app. At that point it was already charging (I guess Sunday evenings are a quiet time for grid useage) and it merrily carried on without complaint.



No, you can't if the Zappi is integrated to Ovo and running under MNDG mode rather than the car being integrated/talking to Ovo. The only options you get in the Ovo Charge app when in MNGD mode are the 'Ready By' time and the 'Urgent Charge' option. The Zappi was fitted a few weeks ago and the Ovo engineer said that if going onto Charge Anytime the most efficient way to have it linked up was to integrate the Zappi rather than the car.

Using the Porsche app to tweak what I need to works perfectly well for me in tandem with the Ovo Charge app - the only thing I'll ever need to change in the Porsche app is the required charge level and now I know the Direct Charging button works its a simple single push of a button to do that. Interested to know why you believe a 'hybrid' approach is inadvisable?



Yes, using Ovo Charge, which coincidentally received an update today if you are running an iOS device.

Ok so now you provided much more information and background...every little helps!

The Ovo Charge Anytime App supports 'Ready by', 'Urgent Charge', Minimum Charge and Maximum Charge settings.

The OVO Charge app also supports Min and Max (editable within "Edit Smart Schedule") - could it be that these settings are hidden when in your special mode (odd if so)?

My hybrid comment was that I could not understand why your would use programmatic control on the EVSE when Ovo Charge Anytime talked directly to the car and provided all the control you would need. Historically, using an EVSE in this way has led to conflicts and unwanted charging results as the Taycan insists on being in 'control'. The EVSE is only supplying power. The AC (and DC) charger is physically in the car and the Battery Management System (BMS) manages the charging process. For these reasons programmatic control relying on the EVSE was to be avoided. My experience dates from 2020 to March this year but things can and do change generally for the better.

Personally, I would not be happy to use 2 apps to achieve one simple charging session. The only caveat to that would be if I wanted to preheat / precool the cabin which can only be done via the My Porsche App.

If I still had my Taycan I'd be using only the Ovo Charge app as it replicates everything Ovo Charge Anytime has / had and keeping my trusty Porsche PMCC EVSE until such times as Ovo dropped support for direct car connectivity.

Its clear now that Ovo have sought to integrate with a handful of EVSEs which can therefore work around direct car connectivity (I suspect this became a challenge to support many car brands).

 

[Tango22]

Hi,

Those settings you mention that may be hidden within the Ovo Charge app, nope - nothing is hidden. They aren't there if your setup means your EVSE is integrated with Ovo Charge Anytime and in MNDG mode. Only settings are 'Ready By' time and 'Urgent Charge'. That's it.

Your setup shows your car listed in the app. When the EVSE is integrated with Ovo CA, its the EVSE which shows up in the app, not the vehicle itself.

My app screenshots:-

 

[W1NGE]

Hi,

Those settings you mention that may be hidden within the Ovo Charge app, nope - nothing is hidden. They aren't there if your setup means your EVSE is integrated with Ovo Charge Anytime and in MNDG mode. Only settings are 'Ready By' time and 'Urgent Charge'. That's it.

Your setup shows your car listed in the app. When the EVSE is integrated with Ovo CA, its the EVSE which shows up in the app, not the vehicle itself.

My app screenshots:-

All clear.

I much prefer my setup - integration directly to the car is much more elegant and efficient.

I suspect if you set your EVSE to the equivalent of "dumb" mode (no programming etc) and talk straight to the car you would get the better experience and of course single app use.

Whatever works at the end of the day.

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