Zappi + Intelligent Octopus in beta

[Gomev]

The procedure for converting over says you have to plug the car in. Once you have agreed the terms and conditions it needs to do a test charge before it will confirm that you are good to go on Octopus Intelligent Go.

We will see what happens tonight as I have set it to put some more charge in but if it works okay then I am suspecting that it might have been because I hadn’t got the latest Firmware update for the Zappi installed as I didn’t know about it.

I thought the test charge, usually very short, happened more or less straight away after plugging in and agreeing terms.

 

[KH11]

I thought the test charge, usually very short, happened more or less straight away after plugging in and agreeing terms.

It did but the timings of the post you referenced was that me just signing up and them doing a test charge. I then received a notification regarding the smart charge schedule for that night after the test charge so I just left it plugged in. It initially started the schedule charge by the looks and stopped after putting 1.02 kWh in and didn’t continue it was saying charging delayed. So just after 5 I unlocked the car and unplugged the charger and started to look at the Zappi settings and found it needed a Firmware update and I adjusted the delay features to the minimum. As soon as I plugged it in it started charging and the schedule was showing 5.33 till 7.00 with the latter being when I said I wanted the car ready by.

I have now this afternoon plugged the car in and as a test and also to do a balance charge set the octopus app to put 100% in as suggested by other forum member after someone asked how you would do a balance charge when the car is not needing a 100% top up. I also adjusted the MG app battery percentage to go to 100%. The Octopus app then notified me that the smart schedule was set for 3pm and 3.30 pm till 4.00 pm then on again at 11.00pm till 7.00am.

The charge did indeed start at 3.00 pm so it looks like whatever the issue I was facing is now resolved. The guidelines that Octopus sent says that they will never charge past the limit set so I am expecting that once it has completed it’s balance charge then it will stop regardless of the times the schedule says.

As an update it has stopped charging a few seconds after 4pm in line with the charging schedule.

 

[sparkygoat]

For MGs the percentage is amount to add rather than the target to reach. This is because MG are not allowing third party access to the API to read the cars SoC.

With many other cars that allow API access you specify the target percentage.

And yes the T&C's mean you need to do IO controlled charges at least some of the time. I think it is only fair to use IO controlled charges as often as possible.

That's good helpful information.

For MG5-LR (21&22 plate pre facelift ) the following comments may help would be IO users.
After a few nights charging with IO ( IO connected to Myenergi-Zappi2, not directly to the MG5 LR ) I now know , for sure, that the percentage charge requested in the Octopus app is the additional charge desired. So for example. If my MG5 LR is already at 60% and I tell the Octopus app that I want "30% charge" then IO will add that to take me up to 90%. Works really well. Also, for IO-charger interfacing, you must first make that no charge schedules exist in the Myenergi app. Also, the Myenergi/Zappi charge mode has to be set initially to "FAST". ( counter intuitive, I know ) Plugging in the car will then result in a small amount of charge being delivered by the zappi for a few seconds followed by the zappi going into "ECO+" mode. ( done by IO ). Shortly afterwards your IO app will notify you of you charging schedule it has created. Once it's done this, don't be tempted to change anything in your myenergi app. ( e.g. if for some reason, if you flip the Zappi to/from "ECO+" this seems to mess up IO ). Just let the IO interface work it's magic. Very impressive technology!

...can't comment on IO-Car app interfacing as I have the 21 plate MG5. Maybe the MG4 or newer generation MG5 have apps that IO may be able to interface with.

Just seen this. I don't have a Zappi so can't tell how valid or relevant this is.

https://support.myenergi.com/hc/en-gb/articles/18470101583377-Zappi-Intelligent-Octopus

I've read that link. Very useful. However for IO-zappi integration, please note that the ECO+ mode is set by IO. You need to intially set zappi mode to FAST. This is counter intuitive, but what happens next is that after plugging in your car, IO takes control and does a small charge ( just a few seconds ) then flips the zappi into "ECO+" mode. Zappi then prompts "awaiting surplus" and IO will then charge your car during the night according to the charge schedule it created for you. This caught me out during the first day or two. Especially where, with Octopus GO you do indeed set the Zappi to ECO+ mode, but after a long support call with Octopus they confirmed I need to initially set FAST mode for IO. Don't know why this is. Maybe, being in beta, this a glitch. I would have thought that if IO has the ability to flip the zapp from FAST to ECO+, then seeing the zappi already in ECO+ would'nt cause a problem. But it does. So for now, just set the ZAPPI to FAST before plugging in your car.

........ Update : tried charging last night, but with mode left in "ECO+" from previous IO charge. Did'nt work. So, it seems that you need to set zappi to FAST before letting IO do a charge. Other than that it works really well !

 

[johnb80]

I have now this afternoon plugged the car in and as a test and also to do a balance charge set the octopus app to put 100% in as suggested by other forum member after someone asked how you would do a balance charge when the car is not needing a 100% top up.

If you dont want to fill the battery or empty a battery the balance charge is irrelevant and not needed.

 

[KH11]

If you dont want to fill the battery or empty a battery the balance charge is irrelevant and not needed.

I am talking about the car battery and I have a Trophy so it was due a balance charge as I haven’t done one for a good 2 months.

On the schedule charge front re Octopus Intelligent then it looks like everything has worked this time so I am suspecting it was to do with the Zappi Firmware not being updated the first time. So hopefully now this is fully resolved.

Thanks for your help John.

 

[johnb80]

I am talking about the car battery and I have a Trophy so it was due a balance charge as I haven’t done one for a good 2 months.

I assume you mean the HV traction battery, if so my comments were in regard to that.

On the schedule charge front re Octopus Intelligent then it looks like everything has worked this time so I am suspecting it was to do with the Zappi Firmware not being updated the first time. So hopefully now this is fully resolved.

Great new, well done.

Thanks for your help John.

Youre most welcome any time.

 

[Roger]

Signed up to IO about 19 days ago after several attempts. Works really well. Done a bump charge and lots of small 10% off peak 7.5p/kWh charges. I’ve discovered that I need to leave the Zappi in Eco++ mode when I plug in and Octopus handle from there.

 

[KH11]

Signed up to IO about 19 days ago after several attempts. Works really well. Done a bump charge and lots of small 10% off peak 7.5p/kWh charges. I’ve discovered that I need to leave the Zappi in Eco++ mode when I plug in and Octopus handle from there.

Yes done a few charges now and I have found it charging earlier sometimes if there is quite a bit to put in. I have found though that regarding the Octopus App that if you set it for example 40% to put in to get it to 80% then the charging schedule doesn’t appear to be set for long enough to put that 40% in. Calculatng that the Zappi would put in 7kw per hour.

I have found that the charging schedule was showing only charging for an hour and half which on my calculation wouldn’t put 40% in.

So to get round that I have set the Octopus app at 100% required to put in and the MG app set at 80%. I have found that Octopus app schedule showing around 7 hours of charge required some early and some in the early hours but once the car is at 80% it stops the charge even though Octopus schedule says to go on after that time.

Just had my monthly statement from Octopus and it shows the rate at the time the car was charging through their smart schedule in indeed at the cheaper rate regardless of when the charge starts.

 

[mg4mc]

Have you actually tried it to see if the charge falls short?

Interesting though, I don't have a Zappi, I went with the Ohme, but the schedules Octopus generates for that charger have always completed the charge - I do add a 5% bump to the required figure. So, if the car needs 30% exactly, I tell Octopus I want 35%. This also allows some time for balancing if required.

If the Zappi isn't being calculated correctly you need to report it to Octopus so they can fix it. This is a beta service, so the odd issue is probably still in the system.

My charge today started when I plugged in at 16:30ish - time to get the oven on

 

[Andrew Sinclair]

Signed up to IO about 19 days ago after several attempts. Works really well. Done a bump charge and lots of small 10% off peak 7.5p/kWh charges. I’ve discovered that I need to leave the Zappi in Eco++ mode when I plug in and Octopus handle from there.

How did you managed to sign up? I have a Zappi charger but don’t see how to sign up.

 

[johnb80]

Yes done a few charges now and I have found it charging earlier sometimes if there is quite a bit to put in. I have found though that regarding the Octopus App that if you set it for example 40% to put in to get it to 80% then the charging schedule doesn’t appear to be set for long enough to put that 40% in. Calculatng that the Zappi would put in 7kw per hour.

I have found that the charging schedule was showing only charging for an hour and half which on my calculation wouldn’t put 40% in.

So to get round that I have set the Octopus app at 100% required to put in and the MG app set at 80%. I have found that Octopus app schedule showing around 7 hours of charge required some early and some in the early hours but once the car is at 80% it stops the charge even though Octopus schedule says to go on after that time.

Just had my monthly statement from Octopus and it shows the rate at the time the car was charging through their smart schedule in indeed at the cheaper rate regardless of when the charge starts.

What size battery does Octopus think you have? Where did you enter that information?

 

[EVsince2016]

I managed to sign up today with Zappi. I got an email saying Zappi had been added.

I went to the app, signed up using Zappi, added the car, linked MyEnergi app, did a test charge and it works, roll on 7.5p for 6 hours!

 

[Andrew Sinclair]

What size battery does Octopus think you have? Where did you enter that information?

I managed to sort it out today. During the sign-up process, Octopus asks what car you have and from that, it knows your battery size. This is confirmed in the FAQ when it states that entering the incorrect car may cause 'issues'.

Very interesting API integration. When it works you can immediately tell because if you set the Zappi to either Fast or ECO in the MyEnergi app then the Octopus app changes it back to ECO + via the Octopus - Zappi API

 

[KH11]

What size battery does Octopus think you have? Where did you enter that information?

Once you have added what Zappi you have it then moves on to what make of car you have when you get to the mg4 tab you can then select mg4 trophy long range from the options

 

[KH11]

Have you actually tried it to see if the charge falls short?

Interesting though, I don't have a Zappi, I went with the Ohme, but the schedules Octopus generates for that charger have always completed the charge - I do add a 5% bump to the required figure. So, if the car needs 30% exactly, I tell Octopus I want 35%. This also allows some time for balancing if required.

If the Zappi isn't being calculated correctly you need to report it to Octopus so they can fix it. This is a beta service, so the odd issue is probably still in the system.

My charge today started when I plugged in at 16:30ish - time to get the oven on

I have connected the car up this evening. The car is currently at 34% and I have set the octopus app to put in 50%. The car is set for 80%.

The charging schedule seems a lot more realistic this time 12.00 to 12.30 and then 1.30 am to 6.00am a total of 5 hours which if it was to go the full schedule at 7kW x 5h so 35kWh in total although I am expecting it will stop charging before that once it has hit 80%.

Otherwise the other times I have connected bar the first time everything seems to have worked well.

 

[Fokmg]

This looks good news
I have a Zappi 2.1 unit and an early SR MG5. Does anyone know if it is still possible to schedule a charge within the 6 hour off peak window (much like the existing octopus Go 4 hour window)
My reason is that I have a few Tesla power walls that start to take power usually at the start of the of the peak rate window the consumption is 10kW! . I have had to schedule my Zappi charge to start after the tesla batteries are charge ( 2 hours later) If I don`t do this I can see combined service loads exceeding 20kW. Despite claims of clever software and current load sensing the Tesla batteries and Zappi charger still like to overload the system and after half an hour the cables from the meter supply get rather warm!!?

 

[Jomarkh]

This looks good news
I have a zappi 2.1 unit and an early SR MG5. Does anyone know if it is still possible to schedule a charge within the 6 hour off peak window (much like the existing octopus Go 4 hour window)
My reason is that I have a few Tesla power walls that start to take power usually at the start of the of the peak rate window the consumption is 10KW! . I have had to schedule my zappi charge to start after the tesla batteries are charge ( 2 hours later) If I don`t do this I can see combined service loads exceeding 20kwh. Despite claims of clever software and current load sensing the Tesla batteries and Zappi charger still like to overload the system and after half an hour the cables from the meter supply get rather warm!!?

What current have you got your Zappi set at before it reduces it available current?
Please post a picture.

 

[Fokmg]

I don`t know how do I find out ? How do I adjust setting (assume it is at factory default setting )?

 

[johnb80]

This looks good news
I have a Zappi 2.1 unit and an early SR MG5. Does anyone know if it is still possible to schedule a charge within the 6 hour off peak window (much like the existing octopus Go 4 hour window)
My reason is that I have a few Tesla power walls that start to take power usually at the start of the of the peak rate window the consumption is 10kW! . I have had to schedule my Zappi charge to start after the tesla batteries are charge ( 2 hours later) If I don`t do this I can see combined service loads exceeding 20kW. Despite claims of clever software and current load sensing the Tesla batteries and Zappi charger still like to overload the system and after half an hour the cables from the meter supply get rather warm!!?

It sounds like either the meter tails are too small or there is a faulty connection at the meter. Are they warm along the length or near to one end? are both live (Brown or red) and Neutral (Blue or black) the same temperature?
They should be 25mm²; if so they're rated at 131amps. I regularly max out my supply (in fact slightly over) at 25 kW and there's no signs of heating of the tails.

 

[tsedge]

Hmmmm... IO is appealing - any issues with the Zappi integration so far?

(I have been resisting upgrading my Zappi to v5 as it is perfectly working as is on Go).