In this mode your zappi controls the charging and as such your zappi should be set to "Eco+" mode.
Joining
When signing into myenergi through the Octopus app YOU MUST use the same login method you used for the myenergi app. If it's a username/password in the app you must use that, if it's a Apple login you must use that. Failure to do so will likely cause the process to break. The email/account type you use for Octopus or myaccount does not need to match.
Expected Operation
When you first plug in your vehicle it will not immediately start charging and will operate under the normal rules of Eco+ mode, i.e. it will take solar divert if you have it and the thresholds are met. Octopus will generate a charging schedule for your vehicle shortly after being plugged in. At the specified times in the Octopus schedule your zappi will be commanded to start boost and stop boost charging as necessary. No schedule is pushed directly to the device, if you wish to see the schedule it is available in the Octopus app.
The boosts sent will be roughly for the amount of energy that can be delivered in the specified time period or less. So if you have a 7kW charger and a boost of 1 hour is sent it will likely be for an addition of around 1-8kWh. As such in the event of an outage with your internet, Octopus or myenergi the boost may undershot/overshoot but not by a huge amount.
In this mode the zappi continues to allow solar divert and any vehicle can be connected to the charger. However, when the zappi is commanded to start charging it simply makes power available, it is down to the car to accept it. If the zappi reports "Charge delayed" that indicates it is making charge available to the vehicle but it is not accepting it. Please see the troubleshooting steps below.
If your device is put into either "Fast" or "Eco" mode Octopus will command it back to "Eco+" mode. If the device is in "Stop" mode then the device will not attempt to charge the vehicle.
If you want to initiate a boost yourself outside of the schedule you can do so from the device itself, the myenergi app or the Octopus app. In all cases the energy delivered during a boost will contribute to the target energy delivered to the vehicle and on completion of the boost the zappi will return to IO control. Octopus use the term "bump" in place of "boost", it means the same thing although it operates slightly differently, see the Octopus site for further details.
Important note: A bump charge issued by Octopus can take a few minutes to arrive, it is not immediate. Also there is a know bug in which if a bump is cancelled within 5 minutes of starting then the bump cancellation may not be sent.
If you want to make use of higher rate export and not divert to the Zappi then follow this guide
Beta, what does this mean?
This service is a beta product (a real world test with real customers) from both myenergi and Octopus so issues may arise from time to time. Although charging generally takes place during the night neither myenergi or Octopus have engineering and support staff available out of hours should an issue arise. If the service breaks at 2am on Christmas day for example it is unlikely to be investigated until the next working day.
If you have ongoing issues we advise you temporarily disable the integration from the Octopus app and temporarily setup a scheduled charge in the zappi to coincide with the overnight low-rate period until your issue can be diagnosed and rectified.
Note you should not do this on an ongoing basis as IO terms require a minimum number of IO controlled charges over a given period. Failure to perform regular IO charging may result in you being removed from the IO tariff.
A note on Home Assistant
Some customers use Home Assistant (HA) to control their zappi and flip it to different modes depending on the time of day. As previously mentioned IO eligibility requires Octopus to control your zappi to control charging.
We have asked Octopus about this and the current position is:
"usage of HA's to dictate charging behaviour will often result in the customer acting outside of the Intelligent Octopus Fair Use Policy"
So be aware if you use HA to control your zappi you may be removed from the IO tariff. We strongly advise you disable HA control of your zappi before switching tariff. If this is an unacceptable change then you should not join IO.
If you're using home assistant to prevent your home battery from discharging perhaps look at the situation differently. If your Zappi is boosting under IO then power is at the lower rate, perhaps charge your home batteries or put your batteries into "stop" mode.
Troubleshooting
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I have been asked for a QR code while onboarding.
- This is a known bug within the octopus app, log out of the app and back in, this will fix the issue.
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I cannot onboard through the Octopus app
- Make sure the login method you're using for the myenergi app is the same as the one you're using for IO onboarding. As a test, log out of the myenergi app, login to the myenergi app, if your devices are shown you should be fine.
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My vehicle didn't stop charging
- If this was not solar divert then this is likely a connectivity issue between your zappi and Octopus. If they didn't know it was charging or were unable to command it to stop charging for example. Please email support@myenergi.com
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My vehicle didn't start charging
- If your zappi is reporting "Charge delayed" then there is an issue with your vehicle not taking the charge offered.
- Make sure to clear any charging schedules in the vehicle
- Some vehicles are known to not wake to up when asked change, this is a known issue and we've been working with manufacturers to resolve the problem. Unfortunately if your vehicle is in this group we advise we contact your car manufacturer for an update.
- Do you have a pin lock on your zappi and did you enter it?
- If the zappi didn't go into boost mode at the expected time this may be a device communication issue, please email support@myenergi.com
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I didn't get as much charge as I expected
- When you go through onboarding the choice of vehicle you make is important, for example if you pick a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range it has a 54kWh battery. From the Octopus app if you specify a 40% charge then 54 * 0.40 means it will attempt to deliver 21.6kWh. If you picked the wrong vehicle or you connect a different vehicle then the zappi will not know this and neither will Octopus, Octopus will still attempt to deliver around 21.6kWh within a margin of error.
- Vehicles have losses converting household AC power to DC for storage in the battery, the losses associated with this vary from vehicle to vehicle. As such you should not expect an exact 40% of energy to be delivered, it could vary a little. If you specifically need a lot of charge for a journey it may be best to overestimate to account for losses.
- We have found in some cases especially with PHEV's that requesting a 0-100% charge comes up short, if this frequently happens by a large amount then we advise you contact Octopus support to investigate and make sure they have the correct battery size for you vehicle registered.
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I want to divert my solar energy and not be issued a grid schedule
- Your best bet is to pause IO integration from the Octopus app
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I want to divert my solar energy and not be issued a grid schedule
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- Your best bet is to pause IO integration from the Octopus app
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