PodPoint timed charging?

[Cocijo]

I have a 7kw podpoint home charger. I know that this has been discussed across several posts and forums but can anyone recommend a way that I can set up a timed charge overnight between 12.30am and 4am to get cheap rates? My car has the 2nd gen bms. I’ve emailed podpoint and asked if they intend to upgrade their current basic app but as yet no reply. It seems silly having a cheap night rate and not being able to use it.

 

[Bazzer44]

I have a 7kw podpoint home charger. I know that this has been discussed across several posts and forums but can anyone recommend a way that I can set up a timed charge overnight between 12.30am and 4am to get cheap rates? My car has the 2nd gen bms. I’ve emailed podpoint and asked if they intend to upgrade their current basic app but as yet no reply. It seems silly having a cheap night rate and not being able to use it.

Yes same with my Rolec
I put mine on at 10-30 for a midnight start charging , EV have made it trickle charge to midnight them my SSE freebie kicks in
The trickle charge cost me between 30 - 40 p so not bad really. My bed is worth that I feel
Come to think about it I suppose I could get one of those digital 13 amp p.ug in timers and use the granny cable, I have one somewhere

 

[BarryH]

Prior to the PodPoint "At Home" option, I had used for a year a rerouting of the "CP" wire (which returns the low-voltage ready to begin charging signal from the car to the wall box) via a WiFi controlled timer relay. When the relay is open the Charge will not initiate and then at 00:30 the relay closes and charging begins.
I tried using the "At Home" feature once rolled out and found it cumbersome to configure and restricted to a single charge period in any 24 hour period. So I was unable to have my 4 hours off-peak 5p charge and then either extend it once every so often by a couple of hours to do a Balancing charge or in winter provide a morning battery top-up to warm the cells before driving. The only way to provide an extra on-demand charge would be to disable the schedule altogether. Also if the Internet glitches the PodPoint charging can go active and I could end up charging the car for unknown periods at full price!
So after a month I gave up and have gone back to using the original wifi timer switch that's able to schedule multiple charges to stop and start at any minute of the day and has a simple start charge button for on-demand charging. Because the WiFi control is local my original solution is unaffected by my Internet connection and even if the router dies the timing is programmed in the Timer-Switch internal memory.

 

[Cocijo]

I have recently had a Pod Point charger installed (three weeks ago). I downloaded the Pod Point app and in the ‘At Home’ section I can schedule timed charging for any time period on any day of the week. I have had no problems and it works perfectly. I have good WiFi so I don’t know if that might be an issue for others.

Pleased that it works for you. Does all of your data on the app show as it should (graphs and data). Have you tried setting a charge to start in the early hours of next day? Are you on Octopus or a similar cheap tariff? E.g. plug car in around 6pm set charge to start 00.30 the next morning. This is where the issues are.

 

[JodyS21]

Prior to the PodPoint "At Home" option, I had used for a year a rerouting of the "CP" wire (which returns the low-voltage ready to begin charging signal from the car to the wall box) via a WiFi controlled timer relay. When the relay is open the Charge will not initiate and then at 00:30 the relay closes and charging begins.
I tried using the "At Home" feature once rolled out and found it cumbersome to configure and restricted to a single charge period in any 24 hour period. So I was unable to have my 4 hours off-peak 5p charge and then either extend it once every so often by a couple of hours to do a Balancing charge or in winter provide a morning battery top-up to warm the cells before driving. The only way to provide an extra on-demand charge would be to disable the schedule altogether. Also if the Internet glitches the PodPoint charging can go active and I could end up charging the car for unknown periods at full price!
So after a month I gave up and have gone back to using the original wifi timer switch that's able to schedule multiple charges to stop and start at any minute of the day and has a simple start charge button for on-demand charging. Because the WiFi control is local my original solution is unaffected by my Internet connection and even if the router dies the timing is programmed in the Timer-Switch internal memory.

This is my gripe with so called smart chargers, I only have personal experience of the Ohme.
To me it seems unbelievable that most don't seem to offer the straightforward basic functionality that most of us want.
At some point in the future I do presume that there will be a need for a "smart" system based on utility load etc.
Right now with my ZS, I just want to be able to have simple schedules setup, that work offline - and therefore are "guaranteed" to work.
I don't blame you at all for using your simple diy solution, it's perfect for the job required.

 

[BarryH]

This is my gripe with so called smart chargers, I only have personal experience of the Ohme.
To me it seems unbelievable that most don't seem to offer the straightforward basic functionality that most of us want.
At some point in the future I do presume that there will be a need for a "smart" system based on utility load etc.
Right now with my ZS, I just want to be able to have simple schedules setup, that work offline - and therefore are "guaranteed" to work.
I don't blame you at all for using your simple diy solution, it's perfect for the job required.

Regards Smart Chargers that are not I took this up with Rolec, PodPoint and MG last March. Apparently MG thought that Smart Charger meant that the charger could schedule charging but the charger suppliers MG signed a deal with also thought that MG cars could schedule charging as they do in Thailand. Ooops. MG thought since the government had announced that the Home Charger grant would only be for Smart Chargers then the Charger App would do the scheduling and the car was de-spec'ed accordingly. A Perfect Storm.

There is a general misunderstanding of what constitutes a Smart Charger. It is currently only specified that the charger is internet-connected so that chargers can report usage and be temporarily disabled in the event of high local demand on the local grid. It isn't a requirement that a Smart Charger have customer control.

Grant Chaps according to the Express, has outlined plans for legislation covering home driveway charging. It will specify that it must be Smart Charging. Well for some time to access government grants it has had to be"Smart" but buyers have been putting in substandard 3 kW charging points in new builds.

So what has changed? Apparently, Grant Chaps definition of Smart includes Time of day delayed charging and Modulated Charging.

Electric charging stations in houses and driveways must meet new rules

ELECTRIC car charging stations installed in houses and driveways must meet tough new rules under Government plans.

www.express.co.uk

 

[GRK]

Pleased that it works for you. Does all of your data on the app show as it should (graphs and data). Have you tried setting a charge to start in the early hours of next day? Are you on Octopus or a similar cheap tariff? E.g. plug car in around 6pm set charge to start 00.30 the next morning. This is where the issues are.

Data shows in the app as it should. I’m in the process of changing to EDF Go electric 35 but it’s not set up yet so I haven’t tried an overnight timed charge yet but I will try it tomorrow night and let you know what happens.

 

[GRK]

Pleased that it works for you. Does all of your data on the app show as it should (graphs and data). Have you tried setting a charge to start in the early hours of next day? Are you on Octopus or a similar cheap tariff? E.g. plug car in around 6pm set charge to start 00.30 the next morning. This is where the issues are.

I set the schedule in the Pod Point app to charge from 00.15 to 05.00 Saturday morning, in fact set the same schedule for every day since that is when I will be charging. Plugged car in at about 8pm Friday evening. Display in car showed ‘connected not charging’. Still showed the same when I went to bed at 11.45. This morning 08.00 unplugged the car fully charged, voltage showing 449v and range 169m, so the system does seem to work ok.

 

[Cocijo]

That’s good. But what do your stats say? Do they correspond to the charge time and amounts?. its the stats that are the main issue.

 

[JodyS21]

Yes same with my Rolec
I put mine on at 10-30 for a midnight start charging , EV have made it trickle charge to midnight them my SSE freebie kicks in
The trickle charge cost me between 30 - 40 p so not bad really. My bed is worth that I feel
Come to think about it I suppose I could get one of those digital 13 amp p.ug in timers and use the granny cable, I have one somewhere

Haven’t they (Rolec) got 2 choices for the MG ZS EV car, one to get around the problem the car had ages ago where it didn’t wake up so had to be trickled from when plugged in, a new/second choice for the car with the “fixed” car software so it can be woken up to accept a charge?

It’s not so bad if you plug in at around 22:30 for a midnight scheduled charge, 1.5hours trickling. I wouldn’t be too happy about it, given we for instance plug in when get home from work at 6pm, wouldn’t want it trickling & wasting money for 6 hours.

 

[GRK]

That’s good. But what do your stats say? Do they correspond to the charge time and amounts?. its the stats that are the main issue.

Yes, stats are correct for power consumption and cost. But time shows period from start at 00.15 until unplugged. However, my battery was not very low - only needed 22.7kWh which would have taken only about three hours so well with in the cheap rate period. I don’t do a great mileage so this is likely to be a normal charge for me probably twice a week.

 

[Cocijo]

Yes - one of the issues with PodPoint is the end charge time is when the cable is unplugged!

 

[JodyS21]

Yes - one of the issues with PodPoint is the end charge time is when the cable is unplugged!

All of these stats really should show:
Connected start / end time.
Charge session start/end time.
Active charge session start/end time.

 

[seasidersrus27]

I did have an issue at the GMT / BST switch date which might be explained by what they told you about there being a known issue with the app clock. Obviously I want to keep the charger schedule aligned with my Eco7 meter night rate for max economy. It did seem to resolve once I re-input the new Eco7 hours (1 hour later) into the app. TBH I wish they would just do away with BST - more trouble than its worth - it was supposed to keep the munitions factories open later in wartime!

 

[simonjbeal]

I had my PodPoint installed in April, and had all sorts of issues getting it to talk to my Wifi, and therefore my App, so that I could operate timed charges. I finally gave in and installed an external wifi extender (second hand, eBay) on the garage wall. Problem solved - I have the timer set to come on at 00:30, and off at 08:00. Successful "Economy 7" charge every time - hasn't let me down once since.