Intelligent Octopus Go
Who controls your charging?
Octopus chooses the smart charging times. Your setup depends on whether you connected zappi or your car to Octopus.
Choose the route you registered.
Use one integration route. The correct zappi mode is different for each.
zappi integration
Octopus sends commands to zappi.
Leave zappi in ECO+- Connect zappi through the Octopus onboarding process and authorise access to your myenergi account.
- Keep zappi online. Use ECO+ with Minimum Green Level at 100%.
- Plug in and unlock charging if required. Set your charging request and ready-by time using Octopus’s controls.
- Let Octopus start and stop smart charging. Do not add a competing zappi timer or change modes to match the clock.
Outside an Octopus-commanded charge, ECO+ may still divert surplus solar when its operating conditions are met. Solar diversion is separate from an Octopus grid-charging slot.
Vehicle integration
Octopus sends commands to your car.
Leave zappi in FAST- Connect your compatible car to Octopus, following its instructions for that vehicle.
- Set zappi to FAST and leave it there. Do not switch it to ECO+, STOP or a local charging schedule.
- Keep the car’s required online connection working and allow charging through any zappi PIN lock.
- Octopus controls when the car accepts power. Make charging requests through the controls Octopus specifies for your car.
Once set up, leave zappi alone. It makes power available; the car decides whether to take it under Octopus’s control.
FAST does not mean the car must charge continuously. The car can pause accepting power. zappi’s surplus-only solar diversion is not controlling charging in this route. A brief charge after plugging in may occur before Octopus pauses it.
The difference at a glance.
| Setting | zappi connected | Car connected |
|---|---|---|
| Octopus controls | zappi | Your car |
| Leave zappi in | ECO+ | FAST |
| Connection Octopus needs | zappi online and reachable | Car online and reachable through its supported service |
| MGL | 100% | Not used in FAST mode |
| Competing schedules | Remove local charger, car and myaccount schedules that interfere with Octopus control. | |
| Questions about smart slots or bills | Octopus | |
Understand the timing
The overnight window is not the whole charging plan.
Octopus plans around your charging request, ready-by time and available smart slots. It can use daytime periods, overnight periods or a mixture. Plans may change and charging may pause between slots.
Standard home off-peak window · 23:30–05:30
Illustrative Octopus smart plan · 18:00–19:00 and 00:00–02:00
Example only, not a prediction of your next charge. Blue shows possible smart slots. Green shows the standard home off-peak window. Being plugged in does not mean charging continuously.
Check the plan, not just the clock.
Smart charging allowance
Octopus currently advertises up to six hours of discounted smart charging per day. Its updated billing rules measure the EV allowance from midday to midday. Charging beyond the allowance and manual boosts can be charged at the day rate.
Updated features are being rolled out. Check the rules shown for your account and tariff. Do not assume every charge outside the overnight window is discounted.
Charge Cap and billing
Where available, Octopus’s Charge Cap helps stop the EV going beyond its discounted charging allowance. Enable Octopus notifications and check its app or online account for the charging breakdown.
Octopus also describes discounted household periods when qualifying smart charging occurs outside the standard window. Octopus must confirm which periods and rates apply to your account.
Read Octopus’s smart-charging and Charge Cap explanation
Need an immediate charge?
Use the urgent-charge or bump option specified by Octopus. A manual charge is not the same as an allocated smart slot and might use the day rate. Confirm costs with Octopus before overriding smart control.
Joining through zappi
Connect the right device.
Check compatibility using Octopus’s current checker. Select your actual vehicle and charger model, then complete the connection in the Octopus app.
1. Add the EV setup
Octopus’s current guide starts at Devices → Add device → Electric vehicle. Be at home with the EV plugged in, but not charging, when instructed.
2. Select and authorise zappi
Choose the correct EV and zappi model. When asked to sign in to myenergi, use the same sign-in method you use in the myenergi app. Select the charger you want to link.
Do these screens look different?
Octopus may change its app, menus or onboarding process without notifying you or myenergi. If the screens in this article do not match your app, a change has likely occurred since the article was updated.
Follow the latest Octopus instructions. For missing options or help with its app, contact Octopus.
Keep one service in control.
- Remove conflicting schedulesCheck zappi timers, myaccount smart schedules and vehicle charging schedules. Avoid Home Assistant automations or another charging service issuing competing commands.
- Check the charger is readyMake sure the cable is connected and any PIN lock permits charging. For zappi integration, keep firmware up to date and set the clock correctly with cloud time and automatic daylight saving where available.
- Use the right sign-inWhen linking zappi, use the same myenergi sign-in method as the myenergi app, including Apple or Google sign-in if used. Your Octopus email does not need to match your myenergi email.
- Allow the requested chargeCheck that the vehicle’s own charge limit does not block the charge you requested. Follow Octopus’s instructions for your car and integration route.
Advanced checks: myaccount and OCPP
Remove competing myaccount smart schedules. If zappi is connected to another OCPP controller, stop that competing control. The Octopus integration described here does not require you to configure a separate OCPP service. Check supported settings in myaccount.
Changing between car and zappi integration
Disconnect the existing integration through Octopus first. Unplug the car, reconnect it and then onboard the other route, following Octopus’s instructions. Set zappi to ECO+ for zappi integration or FAST for vehicle integration.
Pausing or disconnecting smart charging
Manage this from the connected device’s settings in the Octopus app. Pausing control and disconnecting the integration are different actions. Ask Octopus about tariff eligibility or billing before replacing smart control with regular manual charging.
Who should you contact?
Unexpected smart-charging times, changed or missing slots, charging targets, its app, onboarding, Charge Cap and bills.
Contact Octopuszappi faults, offline status in the myenergi app, PIN configuration, firmware and charger settings.
Contact myenergiVehicle charging faults, sleep or wake behaviour, and a car that will not accept power when the charger offers it.
zappi shows “Charge delayed”
This means zappi is offering power but the vehicle is not accepting it. Check the car’s charge limit, any conflicting timers and vehicle messages. Octopus should check the smart plan; your vehicle manufacturer should investigate vehicle-side charging or wake issues.
My car did not start or stop as expected
Check the integration route, zappi mode, lock status and the relevant device’s connection first. If those are correct, ask Octopus to check the commands and charging plan. Contact myenergi if zappi has a fault or is offline in the myenergi app.
My home battery discharged into the EV
A third-party home battery may supply any EV charging load it detects, including an Octopus-commanded daytime boost. zappi cannot tell that battery to stop. Review the battery’s discharge controls or ask an installer about a suitable separate-supply arrangement. Read the hybrid battery guidance.