anyone have an issue with scheduled charging on BZX4?

[gingertips]

Hi all

Im having issues with scheduled charging. Im with Octopus with their overnight tariff which is great, but every morning Im waking up & finding my car is failing to charge!

Ive tried every combination I can think of - using the Zappi App, Octopus App but the only time it seems to charge is if I sit in the car and hit the Charge now button.

Im on Octopus Intelligent Go, with a Zappi 2 charger (installed by Octopus) - does anyone have the same setup that could tell me how you have all your apps & charging device all setup?

thanks

[JonathanP]

I will have the same setup when my car arrives and Octopus complete the migration from Shell.
I can only think to check that you don't have any schedules set in the car itself or the Zappi App.
From what I have read the Octopus app should control the Zappi.

Maybe try disconnecting the Octopus and Zappi link and reconnect it.=, and check how much charge you are requesting for the overnight schedule. I also wonder if it takes a few nights before the schedule starts to work?

[GerryJ]

Have you tried setting the schedule from the car itself?

[JonathanP]

Not sure if you found this document on the Octopus website.
 

Zappi with Octopus
This part makes me wonder if it's expected for the first few days?

"

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. "

I'm guessing to start with you set charging as usual and eventually Octopus will schedule the charges.

[gingertips]

On 2/13/2024 at 8:56 AM, JonathanP said:

Not sure if you found this document on the Octopus website.
 

Zappi with Octopus
This part makes me wonder if it's expected for the first few days?

"

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. "

I'm guessing to start with you set charging as usual and eventually Octopus will schedule the charges.

So thats kind of what happened.  For first few days, Octopus app did nothing, but then last week decided to setup charging schedules & gave me a timetable each night that it would charge - some of those times were peak, but it had a message saying any of these in the schedule would be charged at the cheap rate overnight tariff.

Its failing both with a schedule set in the car and without.  Failed if I disable the octopus charging but with a schedule set in the Zappi app.

I did notice this morning that when I tried to boost using the Zappi EV charger interface, that it kept switching back to Eco+ mode.  It also does this on the App, so theres clearly an issue (Eco+ wont chafrge unless theres a surplus from the solar panels)

Thank you for the link - I will read through it now & see if I need to change anything

[JonathanP]

Octopus has only just added the Zappi charger, so I guess it could still have bugs.
Maybe worth dropping Zappi or Octopus a message on support if it's still acting up.

Hopefully you can get it sorted out, and if I have issues I may be asking you how it got sorted.

[gingertips]

Yes been in touch with Octopus as they also installed it. The installer wasn't very knowledgeable about how it works or the menu options and had to phone a friend

The standard response from octopus said to try upgrading the firmware and also switch it to another mode. Gone back to them to say I can't get it out of eco+ mode. Will see what response they come back with.  

[dab1054]

I've been using Intelligent Octopus Go successfully with my bZ4X and Zappi. You need to disable all scheduled charging in the car and in the Zappi app (leave it on ECO+ setting). IOG needs to be in control through the Octopus app using the 'Devices' setting. Just set a %charge to add and a time for it to be ready. Normally within a few minutes of plugging in I receive a schedule from the app saying exactly which time slots will be used (usually between 23.30 and 05.30 but sometimes you get daytime slots as well). There were some initial teething problems with the Zappi/IOG interface but these were resolved early on.

[Mister Mike]

Did you make sure to update your zappi firmware to the latest version? I believe you can only do this from the zappi control panel.

i have the same setup (as of last week). Only charged it once so far but all went well. I noticed that the octopus setup automatically put the charger into eco+ mode.

[gingertips]

Thanks all.  The joke of it was that octopus informed me I must not use eco+ mode - yet it's their system which keeps defaulting it back to eco+!!! 

I've tried with deleting all schedules in zappi and the car but no use. I think that because it's in eco+ mode and because I have my house Battery is charging that it's stopping the charge. Anyway will check the firmware but I know he updated on the install day as I was stood next to him. I've been reading up on the zappi forum - once I have a resolution I will post what I did hereband hopefully help others. 

[JonathanP]

Have you managed to figure out what's happening yet?

Collect my car on the 1st March, no sign of octopus migrating me from Shell yet (I'm kinda stuck unless I move to another supplier, but everyone seems to recommend octopus)

[Mister Mike]

10 hours ago, JonathanP said:

Have you managed to figure out what's happening yet?

Collect my car on the 1st March, no sign of octopus migrating me from Shell yet (I'm kinda stuck unless I move to another supplier, but everyone seems to recommend octopus)

It took us a couple of days before our smart meter popped up a welcome message from Octopus after we initiated the switch. We went onto their variable tariff straight away. It took a couple of days after that before we got the option to switch to Intelligent Octopus in the Octopus app. NB, as part of the Intelligent Octopus setup, you're asked to select your charger and vehicle type. I did this but forgot to plug in my vehicle so it could do a "test charge". This didn't seem to be required because later, when I plugged the car in, it created a charging schedule and switched on the juice at the designated time.

[gingertips]

Had an email from octopus. They want me to delete it and then we will set it up from scratch again. They feel this will resolve the issues. So will try this tomorrow once they're online. Fingers crossed. 

 

[Andrew Stupple]

I'm with Flexible Octopus and was having similar problems. I discovered that although I had scheduled settings I had created switched off in the car, it was still blocking the charging commands from the Ohme app (charging still in Beta mode according to Octopus, whatever that means).

Once I deleted the schedules, the car started to charge overnight as scheduled on the App.

However, on 2 occasions now, the car hasn't started to charge as it should and I have had to get out of bed in the middle of the night, to unplug the charger from the car and plug it back in again. It then charges.

I am going to pop the car back to Toyota and ask them, but the car could be the issue, not Octopus Energy.

 

 

[SueLH]

Hi, just seen this post so it’s probably sorted by now. I’m a newbie here but have been schedule charging my car for the past week with no issues. I have the zappi charger newly installed. I made the mistake of scheduling charging from the car but zappi said to set schedule on zappi app. I’m with EDF and charge for 5 hours between midnight and 5am. The mistake I was making was the zappi has to use eco or eco+ charge mode otherwise it starts to charge as soon as you plug it into the car.

[BZ4XGrr]

I just want to say we are with eON energy but experiencing the same issue in that we're waking up to find our BZ4X hasn't charged. No schedules set in the MyT app, all schedules are in eON next. We're also having issues on non-scheduled charging points away from home.

One of our friends recommended Octopus Agile to us, but as I understand it it is incompatible with BZ4X.

[Andrew Stupple]

I may have got to the bottom of my scheduling issue. I was parking my car right next to the charging point in a recess of the drive. I have moved my car away from the charger more, into open space, and the scheduling has worked perfectly for the last two nights. Not sure why this should make a difference, but I will take the win!

[Mister Mike]

On 5/8/2024 at 6:47 PM, Andrew Stupple said:

I may have got to the bottom of my scheduling issue. I was parking my car right next to the charging point in a recess of the drive. I have moved my car away from the charger more, into open space, and the scheduling has worked perfectly for the last two nights. Not sure why this should make a difference, but I will take the win!

Sounds a bit unlikely to me.

I've been using Octopus / Zappi successfully for around 3 months. This week, I plugged my car in and went to the pub. A charging schedule appeared. When I got home around 11.30 the Octopus app had popped up a message saying it was unable to start charging on my vehicle. I unplugged it, plugged it back again, and some minutes later a charging schedule appeared and it started charging. I can't say what would have happened if I'd just left it.

[gingertips]

Im at a loss at what’s going on.  It’s been working fine for weeks, but after a weekend away, the gremlins are now back.
 

When I plug in now, octopus gives me a charging schedule, but, the myenergi kicks in immediately and takes power from my solar Battery and the grid, so I’m being charged full whack  (This is with eco+ mode set).  If I set the mode to stop on the myenergi then octopus app doesn’t think my cars connected and tells me that a schedule will be created after I plug my ev in and it won’t charge overnight.  

I wish there was a definitive setting as to how to set this all up. I’m positive that each smart app is interfering with the other apps and in this case not doing what I’m asking it to.  

[Cyker]

It annoys me this is still so complicated! They really need to pull their socks up and make these systems work well enough that normal people can use them successfully if they want EV adoption to go anywhere...!

[JonathanP]

9 hours ago, gingertips said:

Im at a loss at what’s going on.  It’s been working fine for weeks, but after a weekend away, the gremlins are now back.
 

When I plug in now, octopus gives me a charging schedule, but, the myenergi kicks in immediately and takes power from my solar battery and the grid, so I’m being charged full whack  (This is with eco+ mode set).  If I set the mode to stop on the myenergi then octopus app doesn’t think my cars connected and tells me that a schedule will be created after I plug my ev in and it won’t charge overnight.  

I wish there was a definitive setting as to how to set this all up. I’m positive that each smart app is interfering with the other apps and in this case not doing what I’m asking it to.  

During the day I tend to go into the Octopus app and turn off the smart schedule so that the Zappi will charge from solar.
If you are getting too much grid use you may want to check the solar 'delays' on the Zappi (it's a shame most settings can only be changed on the device and not the app). You can alter the time it takes for the Zappi to start and stop charging from the excess. I think the default is 30 seconds for each, so when it clouds over you will have possibly 30seconds of grid use while it waits to see if the generation picks back up again.

If I want to charge at night I always unplug the lead from the car, re-enable the smart schedule and wait a few minutes before plugging the car back in.

[Ross80]

My BZX4 keeps failing to charge using my home charger. Any ideas?

[BZ4XGrr]

We are off to the garage for a meeting shortly as we are attempting to give the car back. After the car has been taken in five times in the four months we have owned it, Toyota HQ via a technical case confirmed to the dealership on Wednesday that the BZ4X is incompataible with eON vestel chargers and Octopus zappi-type chargers. I haven't got a full copy of Toyota HQ's response (will ask for it today) but the gist of it is that Toyota believe there is a GDPR risk in the car talking to the charging unit via the cable, so it doesn't pass certain data over that is necessary to initiate the charge reliably.

The garage are saying we need to fit a British Gas charger and not use many of the 'standard' features that utility providers offer, around scheduling at night etc - instead, control things in the MyToyota app.

We are arguing with the dealership that this is a fault with the car - they are arguing it's merely a 'feature' and the car has no fault, so we have a final meeting today before potentially taking this to the ombudsman if we cannot resolve the issue.

I believe this is a bigger issue than Toyota are making out and it is the lack of BZ4X on the road - and the lack of experience across the network with the car - that means these isolated cases aren't being joined together. Our garage found out that the eOn vestel chargers weren't compatible with the BZ4X 48 hours ago at the same time we did, rather than 12 months ago when they started selling the model.

The analogy I would give is buying a petrol vehicle and experiencing rough running...only to be told several months after you bought it that the vehicle isn't compatible with fuel sold from Shell or Esso petrol stations. I feel this is pretty fundamental to the ownership experience: we have been completely stranded twice because of the car failing to charge and ours is failing to charge around 25% of the time - across three different locations, representing 100% of the places we charge the car (home, work, gym!).

I would recommend speaking to your dealer and keep pushing this. I am happy to PM you details of our car as there is a technical case with Toyota that can be referenced. 

The BZ4X is a half-baked car with an appalling user experience, considering the charging issues and MyToyota issues combined. It's a shame as the car itself is nice to drive. Perhaps all of us with charging issues can work together to force Toyota to do something about this, rather than refusing to acknowledge a fault.

[philip42h]

26 minutes ago, BZ4XGrr said:

We are arguing with the dealership that this is a fault with the car - they are arguing it's merely a 'feature' and the car has no fault

I would tend to side with the dealer / Toyota - otherwise you'd have to accept the possibility that the fault is with eON vestel and Octopus zappi-type chargers - they are selling you chargers that are not compatible with your bZ4X.

But I'd do so very gently - I wouldn't want to go to war over the matter ... 😉

It is clear that we are still at the "early adopter" stage with EVs and charging systems and there are sufficient mature standards in place to be confident that all the parts will work together. With your petrol analogy, there are very clear standards for both fuel and engine makers so the issue of incompatibility doesn't arise, and it wouldn't be too hard to determine who was at fault if it did. Tesla got it right in 'pioneer' space by delivery both the car and the charger (to Tesla propriety standards).

Anyhow, good luck and all the best in getting to a satisfactory resolution ... 🤞

[JonathanP]

Unfortunately I would agree that it's more likely that eOn really are responsible for not providing a charger which is compatible.
Good luck with the dealer, but I suspect at best you may get them to replace the charger at their expense rather than taking back a £40k + car