Ohme Home Pro charger MG4 Ismart.

[remarkable1967]

Hi all.
I'll apologize upfront as I believe this has been discussed before but I am really struggling to understand it. I'm about to order an Ohme Home Pro through Octopus so that I can get their Intelligent tarrif. I have been told that the charger will work with any car but only certain manufacturers disclose the API code which allows for full smart connectivity with the charger. I believe that the MG4 isn't currently listed for this API number on the Ohme. Hope I'm making sense so far. That part doesn't overly bother me as the MG4 API will no doubt be added in time. So working on the basis of using the Ohme Pro on an MG4 Standard range on Octopus Intelligent tarrif, what would my process be? If I make the charger dumb (not sure how to yet) and I do everything via Ismart, will it still recognise the Intelligent tarrif part? At least this way, I'll get a true reading of the current battery status from the Ismart App as apparently the charger can't access this info because of the API issue. Or should I make the car dumb and use the Ohme Pro app which I believe will ask how much charge I want to add. Sorry if this is blindingly obvious but it's just not sinking in with me and the last thing I want is to not get the tarrif rate I've paid for simply because I've done something wrong.
Thanks in advance.... Mark

 

[Leni16]

You can't use anything with the car it is all done with the ohme.
You just set the time you need the car by, plug in the charger and it takes car of the rest, you don't need to pick a start time.

If you try to do anything on the car (screen or car app) it messes with the ohme/ intelligent, that only works by letting the ohme app control everything.
I've never unintentionally charged out with my cheap tariff.

 

[Crawfyp]

You can't use anything with the car it is all done with the ohme.
You just set the time you need the car by, plug in the charger and it takes car of the rest, you don't need to pick a start time.

If you try to do anything on the car (screen or car app) it messes with the ohme/ intelligent, that only works by letting the ohme app control everything.
I've never unintentionally charged out with my cheap tariff.

Your cars’ API integrates with Ohme though to see the battery state. The only way I can ensure cheap time charging at the moment with Ohme Intelligent and the MG4 is to set the price cap at 10p. If I don’t do this then Ohme assumes an empty battery, because it can’t connect to the API. The Ohme instructions say to let the app do everything, but nowhere can I find instructions for vehicles whose API is not supported. I have emailed Ohme several times and they always say to disable any price caps. If I do that, it always starts charging outside cheap time (because it can’t see the battery state and assumes it’s empty I think).

 

[Leni16]

Your cars’ API integrates with Ohme though to see the battery state. The only way I can ensure cheap time charging at the moment with Ohme Intelligent and the MG4 is to set the price cap at 10p. If I don’t do this then Ohme assumes an empty battery, because it can’t connect to the API. The Ohme instructions say to let the app do everything, but nowhere can I find instructions for vehicles whose API is not supported. I have emailed Ohme several times and they always say to disable any price caps. If I do that, it always starts charging outside cheap time (because it can’t see the battery state and assumes it’s empty I think).

Ill take your word for it, I don't even begin to pretend to understand what's going on between the car the charger and octopus (In the background) I just know it works every time. As you say I have full integration with my car and ohme (can even turn on the cabin heater from it) the fact the instructions really don't differentiate between cars with integration and cars without is misleading.

 

[remarkable1967]

Seems like I'm introducing a hassle into my life which very much goes against the grain. I might ditch the Ohme route and go for Podpoint or Wallbox brands and just take the 4 hours on Octopus Go tarrif instead.

 

[Leni16]

Seems like I'm introducing a hassle into my life which very much goes against the grain. I might ditch the Ohme route and go for Podpoint or Wallbox brands and just take the 4 hours on Octopus Go tarrif instead.

Its easy for me to say as I am not experiencing any issues but I genuinely can't fault the charger/app and octopus intelligent. I would hope that MG would eventually provide their API for integration.

 

[Crawfyp]

Seems like I'm introducing a hassle into my life which very much goes against the grain. I might ditch the Ohme route and go for Podpoint or Wallbox brands and just take the 4 hours on Octopus Go tarrif instead.

It’s not difficult in any way, and for me the extra hour is worthwhile. It’s just important to know that the “set and forget” functionality is smoother for @Leni16 as he has API integration to the car from the Ohme. In practice, I just set the max charge rate to 10p to ensure off peak only charging. This works well for me but is contrary to what Ohme are telling me I should be doing. I’m not sure they even understand fully!

 

[IanJ54]

Hi I’m new to this forum and my MG4 is on order and I too have be looking at the Ohme ev charger on Octopus intelligent. I found this YouTube that may be helpful which basically say turn off all charging schedule in the car and only use the Ohme charger or Ohme App. Hope this helps.

 

[IanJ54]

Oops, Here is the link

 

[pete3112]

You just put in how much percentage you need by what time in the morning and then plug car in after 5.30 the charger does the rest if on intelligent octopus ignore the cheaprate stated times you can have a full charge everyday at 10p a kwh and when the car gets 10p your house does outside the cheaprate times just set your mg app to 100% charge and leave it there permanently

 

[remarkable1967]

You just put in how much percentage you need by what time in the morning and then plug car in after 5.30 the charger does the rest if on intelligent octopus ignore the cheaprate stated times you can have a full charge everyday at 10p a kwh and when the car gets 10p your house does outside the cheaprate times just set your mg app to 100% charge and leave it there permanently

Holy hell.... That's confused me even more. So does that mean I get my 6 hours cheap rate whenever I want it?. I think my brain is literally melting. I've just turned the TV on and got University Challenge instead of Pointless. Helllllp!!!!!.

 

[Leni16]

Cheap rate is 2330-0530hrs but you can also get extra, now and again, you can get a notification of the extra, normally early morning, good for chucking the washing machine on

 

[pete3112]

Holy hell.... That's confused me even more. So does that mean I get my 6 hours cheap rate whenever I want it?. I think my brain is literally melting. I've just turned the TV on and got University Challenge instead of Pointless. Helllllp!!!!!.







There's a fb group







Holy hell.... That's confused me even more. So does that mean I get my 6 hours cheap rate whenever I want it?. I think my brain is literally melting. I've just turned the TV on and got University Challenge instead of Pointless. Helllllp!!!!!.







Holy hell.... That's confused me even more. So does that mean I get my 6 hours cheap rate whenever I want it?. I think my brain is literally melting. I've just turned the TV on and got University Challenge instead of Pointless. Helllllp!!!!!.



Holy hell.... That's confused me even more. So does that mean I get my 6 hours cheap rate whenever I want it?. I think my brain is literally melting. I've just turned the TV on and got University Challenge instead of Pointless. Helllllp!!!!!.

 

[pete3112]

There's a fb group for intelligent octopus join it that will explain its easy the ohme app does everything you don't use the mg app at all

 

[Crawfyp]

Oops, Here is the link

Informative video. Interestingly, this chap recommends you to switch the price cap on, which is the opposite of what Ohme recommend. This correlates with my experience that unless I have the price cap switched on, the Ohme assumes an empty battery so will start to charge outside the 6 hour window - obviously it can’t charge the car from empty in 6 hours, hence it charges outside the off peak time.

From watching this video, I think you may be able to leave the price cap off if you manually put in the percentage you need. Example, car is at 30% and I want to be at 80% then you ask the Ohme to charge to 50% (remember it assumes empty battery). I am going to try this with the price cap switched off to see if it stays in off peak. Previously I have been selecting 80% in the Ohme app but forgetting that it assumes empty battery and therefor starts charging outside peak times. I think I should set Ohme charge as the difference between where my SOC actually is (which Ohme cannot see) and the SOC I want, in the example above 50%. Think that is the key.

 

[Chr1sB]

I have this set up and have the following settings that seem to work ok for me ...

iSMART
Target = 80%
Scheduled charging 23:32 to 05:28

OHME PRO
Price Cap 10p/KWh
No Charging Schedules, although selected Avoid Peak Charging
Charge Preferences of Save Money, Optimise for Battery Life and Favour Green Energy selected
When I plug the car in, I do my quick maths of how much charge I want by the morning - say from 30-80% so 50% .. and enter the time I want it by .. usually 05:15.

The charger then kicks in when the low rate becomes active and stops when it has either reached the 80% or 05:15.

Note too that the 6 hours of low cost charging very approximately effectively limits the car to taking 36 KW on the home charger ie 6 KWh * 6 hours ... which conveniently pretty much maps to the charging from 20 to 80% (ie 60KW battery * only 60% used =36 KWh). As I say this is a very rough approximation as I sometimes get over 40 KW within the 6 hours of low cost charging.

 

[Crawfyp]

I’m posting in case this helps anyone else with Ohme charger. Previously, I had BMW i3 and the Ohme talked to the car so it knew battery SOC which made things a bit easier. I was having issues with the Ohme on intelligent Octopus but I was misunderstanding something. I was setting the car to maximum 80% and then plugging in but Ohme would start charging straight away because it assumes empty battery and can’t see the car SOC, it therefore thinks it needs to do a full charge and I was setting the Ohme to achieve 100%, that was the mistake.

Watching the Video above was helpful for me. The way I have now realised to use it is this:

1. Disable the price cap, Ohme will try to charge at the cheapest time anyway but may need to go outside cheap time if not possible to achieve what you asked for within your off peak window. Intelligent Octopus will also sometimes charge outside your cheap times but still charge you the lower rate.

2. If your car is at 50% SOC and you want it to reach 80%, set the max SOC in the car to the level you want eg 80% (trophy only) and then set your Ohme schedule to add 30% by the time you want to leave. Remember, Ohme can’t see the car SOC so you need to work out the percentage you need to add.

3. From the video above, I found it helpful to set up a few schedules to add certain % charge and then select the one I want, like this:

4. Disable the scheduling in the car, it will not play nicely with the Ohme.

Hope this helps someone

 

[John11000]

I’m posting in case this helps anyone else with Ohme charger. Previously, I had BMW i3 and the Ohme talked to the car so it knew battery SOC which made things a bit easier. I was having issues with the Ohme on intelligent Octopus but I was misunderstanding something. I was setting the car to maximum 80% and then plugging in but Ohme would start charging straight away because it assumes empty battery and can’t see the car SOC, it therefore thinks it needs to do a full charge and I was setting the Ohme to achieve 100%, that was the mistake.

Watching the Video above was helpful for me. The way I have now realised to use it is this:

1. Disable the price cap, Ohme will try to charge at the cheapest time anyway but may need to go outside cheap time if not possible to achieve what you asked for within your off peak window. Intelligent Octopus will also sometimes charge outside your cheap times but still charge you the lower rate.

2. If your car is at 50% SOC and you want it to reach 80%, set the max SOC in the car to the level you want eg 80% (trophy only) and then set your Ohme schedule to add 30% by the time you want to leave. Remember, Ohme can’t see the car SOC so you need to work out the percentage you need to add.

3. From the video above, I found it helpful to set up a few schedules to add certain % charge and then select the one I want, like this:

View attachment 14928

4. Disable the scheduling in the car, it will not play nicely with the Ohme.

Hope this helps someone

Octopus go and podpoint it is then

 

[Paulpn]

Seems like I'm introducing a hassle into my life which very much goes against the grain. I might ditch the Ohme route and go for Podpoint or Wallbox brands and just take the 4 hours on Octopus Go tarrif instead.

Hi, you have no worries as all models of MG 4 are covered in Ohme app.