A NOT SO short update on our British Gas Hive EV charger installation.

[johnb80]

More than likely John !.

LOL, it's been a very long saga for sure, I dont blame you

 

[kimptoc]

Oh no. Just signed up for the hive EV charger deal with the Barclays discount last week…

 

[johnb80]

Oh no. Just signed up for the hive EV charger deal with the Barclays discount last week…

Cooling off period - run away.

 

[DBedford]

Cooling off period - run away.

It will be ok, can only be better than my experience John! The car charges at night and costs pennies to do so, with the dishwasher and washing machine on as well.

 

[johnb80]

It will be ok, can only be better than my experience John! The car charges at night and costs pennies to do so, with the dishwasher and washing machine on as well.

Yup, it's just that other tariffs and wallboxes can do that as well but much cheaper! Have you had an answer regarding GPRS that hive uses? Did they get back to you regarding the software issues that was going to be two weeks IIRC?

 

[Spinynorman]

Slightly OT but this is about Hive as a company.
I used to have Alertme alarm kit and heating system until BG bought them and made them into Hive at which point all my (expensive) kit stopped working.
thoughtfully BG supplied me with a thermostat kit with a couple of sensors FOC - great I thought and it was all working fine. I bought 2 view cameras for indoor security and they worked ok until recently. Hive said they were discontinuing support for these cameras in 2025 so I thought I had a little time to replace them. Then one day both stopped working with what was termed the ‘white ring of death’ by others and a bit of research told me they had been deliberately bricked by Hive.
Many other customers had the same problem.
Hive wouldn’t talk to me about it and no support was forthcoming.
I found this unacceptable but could do nothing except dispose of my cameras.
now don’t get me wrong, my lights/sensors and thermostat all work fine - but I wouldn’t trust Hive anymore and am looking for new reliable kit to replace the stuff I have.
i wouldn’t trust Hive now on past performance as they could do exactly the same deliberate bricking at anytime…

 

[johnb80]

Slightly OT but this is about Hive as a company.
I used to have Alertme alarm kit and heating system until BG bought them and made them into Hive at which point all my (expensive) kit stopped working.
thoughtfully BG supplied me with a thermostat kit with a couple of sensors FOC - great I thought and it was all working fine. I bought 2 view cameras for indoor security and they worked ok until recently. Hive said they were discontinuing support for these cameras in 2025 so I thought I had a little time to replace them. Then one day both stopped working with what was termed the ‘white ring of death’ by others and a bit of research told me they had been deliberately bricked by Hive.
Many other customers had the same problem.
Hive wouldn’t talk to me about it and no support was forthcoming.
I found this unacceptable but could do nothing except dispose of my cameras.
now don’t get me wrong, my lights/sensors and thermostat all work fine - but I wouldn’t trust Hive anymore and am looking for new reliable kit to replace the stuff I have.
i wouldn’t trust Hive now on past performance as they could do exactly the same deliberate bricking at anytime…

This situation is exactly the reason I dont like chargers such as the Hive one that relies on a data link to their server. You are vulnerable to that company's operation and to the comms link. Anderson made some very smart looking wallboxes, linked back to their server, they went under and the wallboxes are useless. MyEnergi Zappi does link back to the MyEnergi server but it also has local control and intelligence, in the event of the server or comms not being available, you only lose the connection to the App, control can still be done on the keypad.

 

[Spinynorman]

This situation is exactly the reason I dont like chargers such as the Hive one that relies on a data link to their server. You are vulnerable to that company's operation and to the comms link. Anderson made some very smart looking wallboxes, linked back to their server, they went under and the wallboxes are useless. MyEnergi Zappi does link back to the MyEnergi server but it also has local control and intelligence, in the event of the server or comms not being available, you only lose the connection to the App, control can still be done on the keypad.

Precisely why I bought a Zappi 2 unit. Expensive but independent and so configurable. I was going for an Anderson but glad I didn’t. I still think they’re going though as someone else took them over…EVIOS I think…

 

[johnb80]

Precisely why I bought a Zappi 2 unit. Expensive but independent and so configurable. I was going for an Anderson but glad I didn’t. I still think they’re going though as someone else took them over…EVIOS I think…

Youre absolutely right, it could have been a very different outcome though, for a while users couldnt use their wallboxes.

 

[Lguk]

I discovered, through my installers ineptitude. That my EO mini 2 will work in dumb mode with the comms cable unplugged, should big brother start dictating when I can use it. It will be getting unplugged.

 

[johnb80]

I discovered, through my installers ineptitude. That my EO mini 2 will work in dumb mode with the comms cable unplugged, should big brother start dictating when I can use it. It will be getting unplugged.

The remote control by 'big brother' isn't intended to control when you can and cant charge, the idea is to use it to load balance the grid. It will stop any charging between 16:00 and 19:00 for example but you can override it easily and insist on charging at those times. It also staggers the start of the chargers at off peak times to stop the massive surge that we currently have, my house load in the worst case situation jumps from 0 amps to 103 amps at 23:30 this is on the rare occasion that we hit it with everything. It would be quite useful for the grid to be able to hold off some chargers for a few minutes to let turbines get up to speed etc after the switch on surges.

 

[Lguk]

Our new work Rolec units are government configured and will not charge between 8am and 11am or 4pm and 8pm. We have to apply to override this as we have our own 200kw solar array + BYD batteries.

Should add. The solar is set in south/east/west orientations to catch morning sun and late afternoon. We're usually pumping 80+ kw into the grid in the middle of the summer. We have to request an exemption from the hours if we want to offer charging for more than the 5 hours a day currently possible. Whilst 8-11 is peak grid, we are producing most if not all of our own.

It also has a pre-configured randomised 10 minute delay to assist the grid. I'm all for not loading the grid at peak times. But the whole point of our work chargers is to allow us to top up after the commute and hop to other sites for mid morning meetings that don't have charging or as much solar.

 

[johnb80]

Our new work Rolec units are government configured and will not charge between 8am and 11am or 4pm and 8pm. We have to apply to override this as we have our own 200kw solar array + BYD batteries.

AFAIK there is no requirement for that time to be restricted from charging, on the new wallboxes I've seen that sort of exclusion is set by default but can be user overidden from the wallbox display and keypad. Maybe you have a largish installation and the DNO has placed a condition on the setup?

 

[DBedford]

Yup, it's just that other tariffs and wallboxes can do that as well but much cheaper! Have you had an answer regarding GPRS that hive uses? Did they get back to you regarding the software issues that was going to be two weeks IIRC?

Yup, it's just that other tariffs and wallboxes can do that as well but much cheaper! Have you had an answer regarding GPRS that hive uses? Did they get back to you regarding the software issues that was going to be two weeks IIRC?

Spoke to Hive today about their chargers scheduling not working, no solution there, BUT….
They did tell me they are moving from GPRS to Wi-Fi access, that ties in with their plan to give password access to the charger with a coming Hive app update, thus preventing unauthorised access. All is not lost!!

 

[johnb80]

Spoke to Hive today about their chargers scheduling not working, no solution there, BUT….
They did tell me they are moving from GPRS to Wi-Fi access, that ties in with their plan to give password access to the charger with a coming Hive app update, thus preventing unauthorised access. All is not lost!!

Thats good to hear, hopefully they will be true to their word.

 

[DBedford]

Spoke to Hive today about their chargers scheduling not working, no solution there, BUT….
They did tell me they are moving from GPRS to Wi-Fi access, that ties in with their plan to give password access to the charger with a coming Hive app update, thus preventing unauthorised access. All is not lost!!

Two published updates to the Hive app later and scheduled charging still does not work!!!

 

[allanrobbins]

Hello all. Joining this thread.
Had the Hive EO Mini Pro 3 installed Thursday 24 Aug.
Wouldn’t connect with car, but after powering it off/on it would charge and Hive app tracked it.
That afternoon charger went into fault mode (app and red light on charger). Called Hive. They promised and call back but nothing yet.
Friday was in fault all day. Tried power off/on. App saw it as being available for most of the day but in evening back to fault mode.
Out all day Saturday.
Sunday 27 Aug (now) did a power off/on. Whilst app could see charger tried again.
Charge would only start when we told the car to accept charge on MG4 app. Hive app is tracking it.

Is anyone else having these issues with the EO Mini Pro 3? Any cheats/hacks as to how to use this properly?
So far we’ve only paid the deposit and seriously thinking about telling Hive to take their faulty product back and going for another company.
But want to make sure it isn’t user error first so any ideas greatly received.
Thank you

 

[wandle MG4 trophy]

I have no experience of Hive EV charging but their other smart home products range from good to not fit for purpose. Their customer service is woeful. I suggest you push now to get things sorted (documenting things at every step) and bale out if/when you have proof that they cannot fix things in a reasonable time frame. I certainly wouldn’t be paying the balance until you have a stable product.

 

[johnb80]

Hello all. Joining this thread.
Had the Hive EO Mini Pro 3 installed Thursday 24 Aug.
Wouldn’t connect with car, but after powering it off/on it would charge and Hive app tracked it.
That afternoon charger went into fault mode (app and red light on charger). Called Hive. They promised and call back but nothing yet.
Friday was in fault all day. Tried power off/on. App saw it as being available for most of the day but in evening back to fault mode.
Out all day Saturday.
Sunday 27 Aug (now) did a power off/on. Whilst app could see charger tried again.
Charge would only start when we told the car to accept charge on MG4 app. Hive app is tracking it.

Is anyone else having these issues with the EO Mini Pro 3? Any cheats/hacks as to how to use this properly?
So far we’ve only paid the deposit and seriously thinking about telling Hive to take their faulty product back and going for another company.
But want to make sure it isn’t user error first so any ideas greatly received.
Thank you

Hive reputation is dreadful, get your money back if you can and ditch it, lucky escape.

If you want a good charger and a very good tariff Octopus Intelligent and an Ohme charger. 7.5p kWh for 6hrs per day plus other times under Octopus control, 29.9p peak and 54p standing charge. Octopus can supply and fit the Ohme charger, one stop shop!

 

[DBedford]

Hive reputation is dreadful, get your money back if you can and ditch it, lucky escape.

If you want a good charger and a very good tariff Octopus Intelligent and an Ohme charger. 7.5p kWh for 6hrs per day plus other times under Octopus control, 29.9p peak and 54p standing charge. Octopus can supply and fit the Ohme charger, one stop shop!

Same as British Gas, but I hear you could also have with Octopus, no ones perfect