Home charging?

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al_id3
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Joined: Wed Sep 15, 2021 12:48 pm

Post by al_id3 »

Hi, we are keen to buy an EV and we were basically deciding to go with the ID.3.

However, after a bit of searching we've found that the home charging and in particular the scheduled charging options are quite unclear. Moreoever, many people seem to be complaining that scheduled charging does not work properly. This is quite surprising, as this seems like a pretty major issue that should be easier to sort out than designing an EV...

So can I ask if people have sorted out getting the car to charge to a maximum of 80% in a specific window, e.g. 2am--6am, if we were to go with Bulb's EV tariff. If so, which wallboxes work for this?

Another thing that is a bit concerning is the fact that VW don't seem to have released their own ID. Charger wallbox yet. Again, it seems like the release of their "pure" EVs is not that well planned. Do people think that the ID Charger will be better than 3rd party alternatives, e.g. pod point, which is VW's recommended alternative.

Deleted User 192

Post by Deleted User 192 »

I use the scheduled timing on my Pod Point Solo, I'm not with Bulb but the principle is the same with my off-peak tariff being 20:30-01:30.

I believe the VW charger was delayed getting DNO approval for the UK, and heard that integration with the We Connect ID. app is an advantage of it - all your charging in one place if you also use a We Charge card.
Leccy
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Post by Leccy »

Pod Point scheduled charging does work, but there seems to be a bug (not sure if its all chargers/cars) that causes the ID.3 to believe there is a fault with the charger, so the red light near the charging port comes on and the cable is unlocked. The odd thing is if you ignore the fault light and don't worry that the cable is unlocked, the cable locks and the scheduled charge does happen at the time set. Hopefully Pod Point will fix this and they're talking to VW as it does seem to be a handshake glitch.

I went with Pod Point as I'd heard of them, the spec of the charger is good, the price is competitive and the form factor suited our installation. Being VW's recommendation was icing on the cake which makes the scheduled charging bug disappointing.

On the bright side there is choice in the marketplace, there's clearly nothing special about going with a Pod Point as an ID.3 owner. Ohme, EO, Zappi and others come up on here. I'm sure they work fine for schduled charges otherwise they wouldn't be well thought of.
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al_id3
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Post by al_id3 »

Thanks very much for the replies. I was wondering if the issues were isolated to a few people or more widespread. Some posts I've seen have people who are tinkering with their setup [e.g. scheduling via the wallbox app, or via the car, or both, etc.] trying to get it to work and this is something I really do not want to do as I imagine this only takes the car/battery further and further from its standard testing environment.

It is definitely disappointing that the car's bulit-in scheduling doesn't appear to work properly. Perhaps everything works properly with the ID charger.

With the Pod Point scheduled charging, does the battery keep charging until etiher the battery is at 80% or the scheduled window closes? I assume one can set the car so that the battery doesn't exceed 80%. We expect that most of the time we would rather it stop charging than continue charging into the peak period. Or does the Pod Point receive the battery level of the car and you can tell the Pod Point to stop charging at 80%.

I hope the questions make sense! We were really keen on the ID.3 until we tried to find out more about home charging / schedules. We are still keen but maybe thinking that we should wait until this is ironed out.
Leccy
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Post by Leccy »

Pod Point charging ends at the threshold set by the car, whether it’s a scheduled charge session or a normal one. That’s how the red light/unlock bug has ended up being a non-issue for me (and others I suspect) as with Octopus Go Faster you have some choice over your cheap period, mine is 21:30-02:30 so I just plug in for a normal 80% charge after 21:30, no scheduling needed.
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Deleted User 192

Post by Deleted User 192 »

al_id3 wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 2:56 pm Perhaps everything works properly with the ID charger.

A change of charger won't make any difference, it's the car which dictates whether it pulls and at what rate, so it's the in-car function which needs to be corrected.
al_id3 wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 2:56 pm With the Pod Point scheduled charging, does the battery keep charging until etiher the battery is at 80% or the scheduled window closes?

Whichever comes first. If the car gets to 80% it stops pulling, if the charger schedule ends it shuts off and there's nothing for the car to pull.
Leccy
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Post by Leccy »

al_id3 wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 2:56 pm Whichever comes first. If the car gets to 80% it stops pulling, if the charger schedule ends it shuts off and there's nothing for the car to pull.
Yeah, I should have been clearer in my reply there.
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al_id3
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Post by al_id3 »

Many thanks, that's clear. Of course, the fact that the ID Charger wouldn't help does make we wonder how the scheduled charging software passed testing.
Deleted User 314

Post by Deleted User 314 »

I’ve the VW charger and it’s rubbish, featureless.

As Scott says, it’s the car not the charger in terms of pull.
monkeyhanger
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Post by monkeyhanger »

Most reliable scheduled charging seems to be with the Ohme, which is why I went with it. Tell the app what tariff you're on and tge charger knows when is cheapest. You can tell it to only charge when it's cheap. Tell the car at what state of charge (e.g. 80%) you want charging to stop, leave the scheduling to the charger.
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G43FAN

Post by G43FAN »

I'm guessing the granny version of the Ohme is different because that has to be the least intlligent or useful piece of kit I have ever used.
epicwinningmaz
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Post by epicwinningmaz »

G43FAN wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:04 pm I'm guessing the granny version of the Ohme is different because that has to be the least intlligent or useful piece of kit I have ever used.
Why is that?
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Scratch
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Post by Scratch »

I have just had a couple of days trying to get ours to obey the timed charge setting with a Zappi. The problem turned out to be a) my ignorance of how it was supposed to work and b) the Zappi manual isn't very well written. Having said that, in the end, Zappi technical help were excellent at sorting me out. Their app worked for setting the timers but there is a problem with it. It now seems that, on IOS, I am getting the Apple spinning pizza when I try to use it. Zappi technical support did allude to me that it was better to set the time schedule on the actual charger and not in the app. I suspect they know there is an app issue.
As regards the timers in the car, some say that it doesn't work but I have used it once and it did work.
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monkeyhanger
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Post by monkeyhanger »

metcast wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:19 pm
G43FAN wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:04 pm I'm guessing the granny version of the Ohme is different because that has to be the least intlligent or useful piece of kit I have ever used.
Why is that?
That intrigues me too. I don't have the granny charger variant, but I'm under the impression that it's the same slimline unit, but with a 3 pin plug at one end and same functionality with the app (tell the app what tariff you're on, decide if you only want to charge during the cheapest times, set the daily schedule and go.- plug In any time and it'll wait until the schedule or charging rate criteria is met).

If the granny charger isn't as intelligent, I would speculate that due to the tiny charge rare, its assumed that someone charging on a granny lead isn't fussy about what time they charge. I doubt that's the case though.

Are you using the granny charger with the app?

Glad I got an Ohme when I read about frequent scheduled charging issues with other chargers.
Cupra Born V2 e-boost 230ps Aurora Blue, replaced ID3 PP Family

Audi S3 - because I hate rapid charging for long distance driving.

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