Owning two EVs - apps and chargers

Owning two EVs - apps and chargers

Author
Discussion

mikeyr

Original Poster:

3,126 posts

200 months

Wednesday 6th November
quotequote all
Wondered how common it is for people to have more than one EV?

We have two, and a recurring theme is that you can only ever put one EV down. So the Ohme app for example, can have one EV on there which means leaving it on the ID3 so always gets a bit confused when plug the little e-Up! in to the wall. Same with apps out and about. Things like PodPoint/Mer etc only let you add one vehicle. Just seems an easy change to make. This fairly common?

tr3a

576 posts

234 months

Wednesday 6th November
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We've had two EV's for a while now: Tesla Model 3 and BMW i3, both using our 'dumb' Tesla charger. Both car's apps are used to set charging parameters. No problems whatsoever.

Richtea1970

1,382 posts

67 months

Wednesday 6th November
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We have 2 EVs and two chargers, a Podpoint and an old ‘dumb’ Rolec.
We’re on Octopus intelligent go, so linked the VW (IDBuzz) to Octopus and use it with the Rolec. I then set up the PodPoint to turn on at the same time every day (1130pm to 0530am) and just plug the second car into that, which ensures it’s only ever charged at off peak cheap rate.

Discombobulate

5,115 posts

193 months

Wednesday 6th November
quotequote all
2 EVs here (iPace and i3).

SYNC charger switched to dumb and use Octopus Intelligent on i3 (iPace not compatible), and iPace on cheaper hours (23:30 - 05:30). And use apps on both to set / control if I need to change. No issues.
Never do anything with the charger, and its app, other than plug in.

phil4

1,322 posts

245 months

Wednesday 6th November
quotequote all
3 EVs, and use a Zappi linked to Octopus Intelligent primarily, but also have an old dumb Tesla charger for the odd occasion we need to charge more than one.

annodomini2

6,913 posts

258 months

Wednesday 6th November
quotequote all
mikeyr said:
Wondered how common it is for people to have more than one EV?

We have two, and a recurring theme is that you can only ever put one EV down. So the Ohme app for example, can have one EV on there which means leaving it on the ID3 so always gets a bit confused when plug the little e-Up! in to the wall. Same with apps out and about. Things like PodPoint/Mer etc only let you add one vehicle. Just seems an easy change to make. This fairly common?
I have 2 plus the Ohme home pro, the App limitation is a nightmare and I've complained about it many times.

Recommendation is create an email address that both you and the other car operator have the login for, setup the Ohme account on this address.

Then you can both install the app and control the charger.

For other apps, set the vehicles up on different accounts (if possible) and switch between the accounts for the different cars.

LeeM135i

657 posts

61 months

Wednesday 6th November
quotequote all
We have a Polestar 2 and a Volvo XC40. Use the same Ohme charger and we are on the Octopus Intelligent tariff.

Works really well, Polestar gets run to almost empty every day and charged back to 90% overnight. When I get home I set the charge limit in the Polestar app (90% to reduce battery degradation) and tell the Ohme app how much charge it needs, I plug it in and authorise the charge and it does its thing when the electricity is cheap rate. The Volvo gets used most days but doesn't travel far so is charged when it needs it using the same process, usually every other Saturday.

The charger is smart but the cars are not so you need to tell the car the max it can charge to and the charger how much charge you need to get there as they don't talk other than the car saying its full. If you are lazy you can just leave the charger thinking it need to supply 100% charge to the car and walk away the car will stop accepting it when its reached its max.

Neighbours have a Tesla Y and Kia EV6 and do something similar although they only charge each car once a week due to their low milage.

Been easier than I thought and our electricity bill has gone down since we got the electric cars even though we use a shed load more of it. Octopus Intelligent gives you cheap rate electricity when its available and the car is plugged in asking for it. If we run the oven, dishwasher and washing machine after 8pm it mostly gets charged at the cheap rate, crazy......

df76

3,822 posts

285 months

Wednesday 6th November
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We now have a Cupra Born and a used VW e-Up. The Cupra is linked to octopus and the charging for that is managed using that app. The VW is managed via the vehicle in a more traditional way, it’s usually just set to charge up to 90% and only between 23:30 - 05:30, which it always manages.

Basically, it’s easy. We do also have a granny charger, but we’ve only had to charge both cars at the same time once. And that was no hassle anyway.

Tomo1971

1,157 posts

164 months

Thursday 7th November
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ID4 (Company Car) and Hyundai Ioniq 38kw.

Octopus connects to the ID4 as it want connect to the charger. Charger set to manual. Ioniq has a schedule set from 11:30 to 05:30 as even if fully depleted, the battery will still fully charge in the 6 hour window.

Out and about, we have 2 electroverse cards - I also use Tesla app and have a CPS card (now redundant after the electroverse tie in).

ABRP app allows multiple cars

Not sure that it matters if out and about apps only allow one car to be added, they just initiate the charge, cant image any of them are bothered what car they are connected to.