So just got a new Model Y, haven't bothered with installing a charger as seems a bit steep for my needs (granny charging will replenish most that I need, and supercharger up the road if I need a quick charge)
I'm on Octopus Agile.
I'm using HA with PredBat, Octopus integration from bottlecapdave, givtcp and Tesla integrations. Predbat takes care of my house charging in the right half hour spots.
I was hoping something would help me dynamically charge the car on the cheapest agile rates, but unless I am missing something, doesn't look like it. Should I just goto intelligent go and forget agile?
Anyone else doing something interesting on agile w/ car?
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#2DD
pacemaker I'm on IOG. I have been keeping an eye on agile prices, via the comparison app, but so far, IOG has been fairly consistently cheaper in those 6 hours. But I have a battery big enough to cover the day's consumption - if you have a higher daytime usage, agile could still be better for you
#3PianSom
pacemaker
Completely agree with @DD , and am in a similar position.
Agile has been cheaper for the overnight charge probably at most 1 night in 10 over the last few weeks. IOG is still a clear winner at the moment.
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#4SimonClarke
Same here. Been monitoring it for a while and it’s rarely cheaper on agile
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#5alan_johnston
I am on Agile (came from Flux) have set my EV charger to start at 02:30 and stop at 06:00 which is when Agile rates are typically cheapest. I am not bothered about them not being the cheapest rates.
IOG doesn't work for me because I don't use a lot of EV and don't have a huge GE battery to get me through the day so need the low daytime rates Agile currently has.
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#6geoffreycoan
pacemaker I was hoping something would help me dynamically charge the car on the cheapest agile rates, but unless I am missing something, doesn't look like it.
Predbat can control the charging of your car in the cheapest agile slots. You do need some way of controlling your charger in home assistant.
As the others have said, whether IOG or agile or Octopus Go is cheaper depends on your typical daily house load profile and battery size. The agile overnight rates are not as good as the Go variants, but the daytime rates are (apart from the peak) almost always better.
IOG does need a compatible car or charger though.
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#7DD
geoffreycoan You do need some way of controlling your charger in home assistant.
pacemaker Using the EV granny charger means you will have a problem getting software to control when to charge and when not to charge. Maybe if you had a smart socket that HA or the like can control. Then connect the granny charger to that?
When my Ohme Pro died recently, I used a granny charger with programmable timer socket as a stop gap. I could program the timer in 15 min slots so could manually load the cheap slots ahead of time.
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#9DD
alan_johnston I think that's a bad idea: turning on isn't so bad, since the car will gracefully negotiate and initiate the charging process, so there's no initial power surge. But turning off abruptly during a charge could damage contacters and things (due to arcing, if there's any reactance in the load).
Tesla does appear to have HA-compatible control of charging via API.
Or if you're just using fixed timeslots, don't most cars come with charging timer support built-in? That's certainly how I was doing overnight charging with granny charger on my Leaf.
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#10pacemaker
thanks all - I ended up just going with IOG, and using octopus to start/stop the charging. worked relatively well so far
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#11alan_johnston
DD But turning off abruptly during a charge could damage contacters and things (due to arcing, if there's any reactance in the load).
I did wonder about that but my granny charger uses the power socket's on/off switch (there are only indicators on the charger itself). I assume it has some protection built in to cater for it being switched off while the car is charging. It is a common occurrence. Charge current is also 10A max.
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#12DD
alan_johnston Mine's the same, but I'd always unplug from the car first, rather than turning off at the socket while the car is actively charging. (Though it had usually stopped via the car's charging-timer anyway.)
The pins on the socket to the car are arranged such that the controls disconnect before the power lines, so it should get a chance to shut down. (But in fact mine stopped drawing power as soon as the latch on the connector was pressed.)
Obviously in a power cut, you're going to get the abrupt loss of power - not really much you can do about that. But still better to avoid making it a common occurrence.
