I’ve just purchased an E-Niro, so will need an EV charger, as I have a Victron System it would seem sensible to use the Victron EV charger.
What is the likelihood of Victron EV charger becoming compatible with Octopus Intelligent Go?
The unit rate is a bit cheaper on Go, and you can get additional cheap slots when Octopus decide, but it requires a compatible charger or car (I don’t think the E-Niro is compatible).
Came here for exactly the same question. I assume some API integration is required.
The general consensus elsewhere was that it would be a very long time before it was supported, if at all. Octopus tend to focus on the more popular mainstream chargers.
I ended up going with a Zappi, although I’m not very impressed with it, it has an awful lot of “features” I just don’t need, which complicates it. But I have got it working how I want, and my Node Red routines kick in when a IOG slot is given outside the off peak hours, so house batteries charge, and don’t discharge into the car.
I discovered recently that Victron have an EVSE with a published modbus register list, which makes this the only EVSE you can can buy, apart from openEVSE, with (fully automatable) local control (SFAIK - and I did ask about 30 manufacturers if they supported local control a couple of years ago - half of whom didn’t understand the question, the rest said ‘we have an app’, almost all of which actually worked through a remote server, and all of which were proprietary). So I was very excited about this.
But then I discovered that Victron is not on the list of about 50 manufacturers deemed compatible with Octopus Intelligent Go (OIG).
Octopus told me that they work with manufacturers to check devices work nicely with the API, but there are plenty of devices on the list which are not very ‘smart’ at all, and do not talk to the API - they are just capable of scheduled charging, which appears to be the minimum requirement for listing. What EV Chargers Work with Octopus Intelligent Go? | Evergy which includes ‘Hypervolt Home 3’, Zappi, Easee One, Andersen Quartz, all of which do not talk to the API, but just allow scheduled charging or the tariff profile tpo be statically programmed.
Also on the list are “No charger (3-pin plug)” and “No charger (commando plug)” neither of which are talking to any API either, and demonstrating that the bar is very low.
I see on another thread ( Is Victron intending to add OCPP 2.x protocol support to the EV chargers? ) discussion of adding OCPP (which would be great), but it really should be possible to get on the list without doing all that work - that’s the ‘2nd level’ (API integration). ‘1st level’ (basic scheduling), ought to be easy to demonstrate. Being on the list is the crucial step from the point of view of the EVSE owner wanting to get the benefit of OIG: 5 hours of very cheap overnight electricity (IOG has Octopus’s lowest overnight rate).
I pressed for details of the minimum requirements, but was fobbed off with “There isn’t a link or way to make a charger work with Intelligent Go, the team responsible for updating the list will work with the individual companies and test to make sure that they are compatible. Unfortunately we have no way to influence this, they are constantly reviewing and
updating the list.”
So has Victron had any contact with the Octopus EVSE team, to demonstrate that the charger is very capable of scheduled charging (and find out exactly what would be needed for API integration)? Has it in fact been determined that it does not qualify for some reason?
The chargers are amazing value (even after adding the Type-B RCD and either rod or PEN-fault device required in the UK) given the published modbusTCP details, but not being able to get on IOG is a big disincentive in the UK as is has the cheapest leccy of all their tariffs.
In the meantime, for anyone who understands why local control matters, and can’t wait for this issue to get solved, you can install an OpenEVSE EVSE, which is on the IOG list as ‘Openenergymonitor EV charger’. (bit confusing as they are the importer, not the manufacturer, but once you know, it’s OK). It has the same features as Victron of local control (HTTP and MQTT), needing external RCD and PEN-fault device/earth rod and being relatively cheap.
Had it been IOG compatible I would have bought one, but I ended up with a Zappi, which I’m not very impressed with. The website is slow, and the app’s not very intuitive, and of course it’s expensive.
But to be honest, once set up with IOG I don’t need to do anything apart from plug it in, I don’t need to control it although it would have been far better to have it within the VRM, but I’ve added it to HA via a Shelly Energy Meter, so I use that to see what powers been consumed.