Intermittent charging

[DHail]

My ID.3 is at main VW garage again to try diagnose charging issue. I use Octopus EV tariff and Myenergi Zappi charger. It began with car not waking up to charge on solar power when sun dipped behind clouds. The car occasionally started charging again during the day. VW app showed charge full at any random percentages. Garage failed to find fault with car first time. Myenergi technical were very good, pointed out this was a common thread (on here) and various forums affecting multiple brands. Car now stops / starts charging on cheap overnight grid electricity in addition to variable solar charging. Myenergi maintain Zappi charger is passive so will only stop with command from car. They voluntarily swapped my new Zappi for another new one to eliminate any suggestion it’s at fault. VW garage still maintain no faults and VW UK seem to be adding little technical value or customer support. The app shows multiple start/stop but VW can’t replicate. I have to set an alarm for 11:30pm to check charge started and also 3:00am to turn on car from app or sometimes I have to unplug cable and plug in to get car to start charging. Really stressful when you need 80% charge and without intervention wake with considerably less… any ideas ?

[DumfriesDik]

I've got nothing to offer but sympathy, that charging is not great but I hope it can be quickly resolved for you.

[sidehaas]

What settings do you have for controlling the charge in the car, and in the zappi? Are you using Octopus intelligent? Is it charging at 7kw in the periods it is working, or something less? What happens when you plug in at a public AC charger, does it work correctly there?
There isn't enough information here to work out whether responsibility might sit with the car, the charger, the cable, the energy supplier or one of the interfaces.

P.S. that app message comes up whenever charging stops/pauses, regardless of the cause or whether the pause was intentional. It doesn't really mean anything has completed.

[DHail]

Thanks for the comments. I’m using Intelligent Octopus Go which does charge at 7kw and I’ve observed this. I have not set any charging parameters for the Zappi as MyEnergie advised Octopus would turn on /off within cheap period.it works fine with granny cable and fast motorway chargers. I believe I’ve eliminated the charger and cable as it’s a tethered Zappi and was brand new. I’ve then replaced it with another. I’d be extremely unlucky if both chargers / cables were faulty. Given VW say car is fault free, I’m now thinking Octopus may be at fault and have emailed them with my issue. The car doesn’t charge consistently with solar so that aspect of the issue can’t be Octopus. I appreciate you taking the time to help eliminate aspects of the problem. Zappi and VW advise they are not to blame for my charging issues.

[Raxacorico]

Hi DHail
I had something similar. Zappi charger too.
Over a period of time I noticed that there was no continuous charging.
I Used the "Location" charging in the car, and [at a different time] I used the settings on the Zappi to delay the charging to coincide with my IOG cheap period.
In both cases I had odd, intermittent charging. Sometimes overshooting the cheap period [23.30 to 05.30] See screen grab:

OddCharge.png

Later I realised that IOG was taking part without my knowledge.
The Octopus App. is on my wife's phone (I don't have a smartphone), and after eliminating all other possibilities I took a look.
In the App. IOG creates a schedule, and it's NOT a continuous charge!
Hope this helps you, or anyone else ...

[Raxacorico]

Sorry, here's the screengrab:

[sidehaas]

If you are on Octopus Intelligent it seems to me that this is just the intended charge schedule. It's completely normal for Octopus to pause and restart quite a few times, and for the VW app to send reports like those you showed each time it does that. None of that indicates a fault in of itself.

[StewartManley]

If you are on Octopus Intelligent it seems to me that this is just the intended charge schedule. It's completely normal for Octopus to pause and restart quite a few times, and for the VW app to send reports like those you showed each time it does that. None of that indicates a fault in of itself.

This. Intelligent Octopus schedules are now very granular and can be just a few minutes long inside a 30min slot. They can also change multiple times in a charge session.

[Fry]

I may have missed it but does it get to your designated charge level or is the issue that it sometimes just doesn’t charge enough?

I get all these notifications but for me OVO and Ohme always work well to get me to 80% by 7am which is my set target time.

[Raxacorico]

I may have missed it but does it get to your designated charge level or is the issue that it sometimes just doesn’t charge enough?

I get all these notifications but for me OVO and Ohme always work well to get me to 80% by 7am which is my set target time.

With IOG the schedule is sometimes past the cheap time (see screengrab above); but from experience they still only charge at the cheap rate.
But yes, always to the required level at the required time.

[DHail]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions…. Much appreciated. I will await responses from the VAG dealer when the car is returned and Octopus’s response , following my email. When it does stop start, it is often behind cheap tariff time, but based on above suggestions that might not be an issue. If I learn more then I will update this thread. Cheers.