Technology waits for no man – but I do try and keep up! 😯
Way back in June 2019, we took the plunge and bought our first BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle). At the time, one of the attractions was a sizeable financial subsidy from the State to buy the car AND a Grant to have a Charger fitted on the side of the house. In 2019, there was really only one major player for BEV Home Chargers – ‘BP ChargeMaster’ (who later became BP Pulse). It did the job… just… but became quite temperamental in terms of how it shared its data such as costs and energy delivered. So unreliable, in fact, as of today, we were on our THIRD Unit from BP.
Coincidence (or otherwise), BP withdrew from the Home Charger market a while ago, so it was time to shop around for something better and maybe something smarter. ‘Better’ should be easy, but ‘smarter’?? 🤔
For a while now, ‘smarter’ Chargers have been a thing. How so? The best ones out there now talk directly to your energy provider rather than relying on the car itself to initiate the communication. Why’s that better? Well, the car industry generally makes reliable EVs but their in-car technology, shall we say ‘varies a bit’. Kia is a perfect example! – our current car. On the one hand, it’s the best we’ve ever owned, but the inbuilt ‘charge manager’, recently, without warning, stopped communicating with our energy provider! Permanently!! 😯
Time for some serious research, and after quite a few hours of online activity, I found that there were a just few contenders out there who ticked all the required boxes for us. In the end, I opted for the ‘Ohme Home Pro‘. (Ohme pronounced, perhaps not how you think… it rhymes with ‘Oh me‘ – who knew? 😯). £600 lighter, I placed the order online a few days before Christmas, and the package arrived on Christmas Eve. 👍😀.
Installation
Today was the day for installation. It was mostly straightforward because we already had all the cabling in place from retiring the BP Unit – or so we thought! In theory, it was just a case of removing the BP Pulse Unit, and replacing it with the Ohme plus a bit of configuring. Well, I say ‘straightforward’ especially as I got our local and long-time competent ‘Sparkies’, Mick and Ash, to do the hard work👍.
Although it mostly went to plan, there was an additional unforeseen cabling challenge. Because we were ‘early adopters’ of home charging, it meant our existing outdoor cabling did NOT have the necessary ‘CT clamp’ wires built-in. Apparently, this is a highly recommended safety feature these days (why?), so it couldn’t be ignored. A temporary fix was put in place, whilst the required length of CT cabling was ordered.
Now, all that was left to do, was to test everything. I’d already set up my new Ohme Account and linked it to our existing Octopus account, so, again, in theory, once the device was powered up, it should live up to its ‘smart’ credentials.
After a couple of false starts – including a visit to ‘Installer mode’ – requiring a few twiddles, it all seemed to be working. Success! 👍👍…and here’s the proof…
Note how the Charger has worked out the best times to charge the Car (for the Grid) today, and as a result, Octopus has given us various slots at the super cheap rate of just 7p per kWh – and that applies to the electricity FOR THE WHOLE HOUSE, NOT JUST THE CAR! 👍👍.
Today, I LOVE technology! 😍
I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!
I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!
Love my OHME charger
Sold my old Pulse one on Ebay and got £150 for it !!
Yes, I remember! Amazed anyone wanted it! 🤔 That was our third and generally, it became very unreliable.