[MD999]

I have recently started using the Next Connect App on the Next Drive Smart V2 tariff.

It took a while to get things set up, but eventually everything seemed to running fine.

However, there appear to be some significant issues:

It looks like that the car charge is being measured at the car (unlike Octopus Go, which is measured at the charger). This means that charging losses (approximately 2 or 3 kWh per charge) are being charged to home use rather than car charging. This doesn’t matter very much during off-peak hours. But, when the app schedules a session outside of off-peak hours, it looks like charging losses are being charged at peak rates - what should be a £2.50 charge suddenly becomes closer to £3.50, more than writing of the advantage of the lower per kWh tariff compared to Next Drive V7. Is anything being done to address this?

Pausing the schedule in the Next Connect App had no effect and the previous schedule interrupted an overnight charge and the car failed to charge up correctly. My only option to force an overnight charge was to unlink my car from the App completely.

Overall, until these issues are ironed out, the app and smart tariff appear to have little advantage.

[rwh202]

Interesting. I'd still not seen any information on how this tariff was actually applied. Have you got a (redacted) screenshot of the bill?

Not sure how they are getting away with using the car reporting to do billing - not in compliance with the Electricity Act.

As you've identified, it doesn't include charging losses (which can be significant). Also, any reporting from the car is approximate. Usually only a percentage to nearest percent.

So, for a nominal 10% increase, was it 49.5 to 60.49 percent or 50.49 to 59.5? There could be a 20% error just there!

The percentage reported may not be linear. How the car / BMS does the mapping is a magic black box - 0-10% indicated might be more or less than 90-100%.

Percentage of what? The nominal 'usable' capacity of the new battery? That is approximate and varies with time. Again, subject to BMS magic and buffers etc.

The only accurate measurement E.on have is that from the meter - but includes the whole house load which may or may not be significant. The next best might be the EVSE since that actually reports the energy delivered to the vehicle, but is not certified or guaranteed accurate for this purpose. Using the car is an absolute fudge and depending on their wording - illegal. (Ovo get around this with their terms and conditions and providing a 'rebate' on the full price billed from the meter).

[MD999]

@rwh202 - haven’t had a bill yet, so I guess things might get ‘adjusted’ some how.

However, at this time of year a combination of overnight house battery charge and solar means that I use a negligible amount of peak rate power. So 2 or 3 kWh peak rate reported in the EON Next App really stand out and coincide with sessions scheduled during peak hours by the Next Connect App (which should be being billed at off-peak rates).

As you say, the only things EON Next know are meter reading and car telemetry; there is no connection to my home charger, so no way of knowing how many kWh were destined for the car.

Short of some magic fudge, the only way to guarantee billing at the off-peak rate would be to count Connect App scheduled sessions during peak hours as off-peak for the whole home. If this were the case, it would make the tariff a seriously good deal!

[Sabagnes]

Be interesting to find out what the outcome is.

I've only been on the tariff since 4th July so still unsure if this is best for me. Or jump ship to Octopus.

Have you asked for a bill to be generated?

[MD999]

Originally Posted by Sabagnes

Be interesting to find out what the outcome is.

I've only been on the tariff since 4th July so still unsure if this is best for me. Or jump ship to Octopus.

Have you asked for a bill to be generated?

So just had my first bill. I am definitely being billed extra kWh at peak rate during sessions scheduled by the app outside of off-peak times. My guess is that these include charging losses, given that EON Next don’t have access to my home charger data. Also, as far as I can tell, the car doesn’t report how many kWh it consumed, so there must be some sort of estimate going on in the background to determine power used to charge - seems a bit hit and miss to me. It’s impossible to know for sure, because neither the bill nor the app gives a detailed history of past charging sessions. So Next Drive Smart billing is a bit of a leap of faith.

[Sabagnes]

Well my Smart charging was all charged at Peak rate.. So now going through the pain of trying to sort it?

[MD999]

I couldn’t tell what I’d been billed for charging. I may have been charged at peak rate for grid power alongside some solar and some battery drain. This has become all too difficult, even acknowledging that this is a pilot. Looks like this will end up costing me about £50 per year even after the slightly lower tariff is taken into account.

Overall, lack of transparency on billing and charging sessions, plus charging unreliability mean I’ve surrendered and have gone back to Drive Fixed. Would consider Smart again, but only once the fundamental problems have been ironed out.

[Connor_EONNext]

Hey @MD999 - Connor here 👋 Just to confirm, when charging your car using the connect app to schedule charges for your EV - this is being charged at the peak rate outside of 12-7am? Could I confirm if you're on the Next drive Fixed or the Next Drive Smart? You can confirm this on your statements 😁

[MD999]

I was on Next Drive Smart V4. I’ve since moved back to Drive Fixed.

[Indyk_EONNext]

Evening @MD999

I am sorry to hear you have switched back to the Next Drive fixed tariff, how is everything working for you now? 😊