Is "Intelligent Octopus Go" any good?

Does Octopus have support for your model of EV? That is an alternative route instead of having a compatible charger. It's typically only for EVs that have some kind of connectivity, eg their own mobile app.

Pass, I have no experience. It's never seemed super attractive to me, especially given the increased charger cost. Although if you're paying someone to install, the extra charger uplift may be minimal compared with a pricey installation (and the installer may have their own favoured brand of charger). If you already have a compatible charger, perhaps it then works?

(I hate these proprietary charging platforms. I'm very tempted to buy a cheap EO Mini from ebay and talk to it via RS485 for manual control)

I think you mean smart charger, not smart meter? Depends on the charger - some can use LTE, others can use ethernet. If running wires anyway, ethernet is a good plan if that's feasible.

Smart meters don't need any kind of internet connection of course - they don't use wifi.

Theo

On the Octopus web sie it says our car is compatible but I don't think that means it's going to use the car's app. It means that their smart meter plus smart charger will work with the car.

So you seem to have much the same view as me - probably not worth it.

Well, yes, I meant charger but it would be adjacent to the meter so it makes little difference. I thought the smart charger has to able to 'talk' to the meter though doesn't it to do all the clever different rates at different times.

I can run wired ethernet to it if necessary.

What car is it? eg if I select a Dacia Spring (dumb, no connectivity) and 'No Charger (3 pin plug)' (dumb) it says not supported. But if I change the car to a Tesla Model 3 (which has its own connectivity) then it's supported, even though the charger is still dumb.

Octopus don't use the car's app directly but they do use the car manufacturer's API. The API is how the app talks to the manufacturer's server which talks to the car: having an app is not a determinator for Octopus supporting it but it's a good indicator that suitable communication is possible.

If the car doesn't have connectivity then you need the charger to have connectivity instead. It's feasible if either support Octopus - you don't need both to support it.

It sounds like your car already has support in which case you don't need hardware changes and it's just down to the tariff being suitable for you.

No, the charger is just talking to Octopus via the internet. The smart meter doesn't get involved, other than to send metering data to Octopus via the DCC (O2 mobile network if you're in the south, Arqiva radio in the north).

Some chargers have current transformers (CTs) so they can load-balance sources and sinks like car charging, home battery, solar, domestic loads, etc so as to optimise export and import. Then they may use wireless or wired comms between the charger and those CTs which typically live near the meter/consumer unit. But they're not actually connected to the meter itself.

Theo

Since e-Call was mandated, doesn't *every* modern car have a 4G SIM and piggy-back its app connectivity on that?

Not all. eg the base 'Expression' trim of the 2021-26 Dacia Spring has eCall but no infotainment (beyond radio and Bluetooth). The higher 'Extreme' trim has infotainment with remote connectivity.