Introducing Smart LUX™, our latest and most advanced EV charger Find Out More
Introducing Smart LUX™, our latest and most advanced EV charger Find Out More
Get answers to your questions about the charging & scheduling process as well as how to use solar power to power your charger.
Your EV can start charging whenever you want it to. You can either set up a smart charging schedule so it automatically starts charging at a specific time, or you can start charging right away by pressing the ‘boost’ button on the app or charger.
In July of 2022 the government introduced some new laws that applied to Smart Chargers for EVs in the UK. Due to that law change, we can not start and stop your scheduled charges at the exact time you schedule them - we have to pick a random number and add that as a delay to the start and finish time. This delay could last any time between 0 and 10 minutes.
As an example - if your home charge is scheduled to start at 01:00am and finish at 05:00am then it could actually start anytime between 01:00am and 01:10am and finish any time between 05:00am and 05:10am.
This new law does not apply to boost charges so we will start charging as soon as you press it.
There are lots of variables in the charging process, and therefore multiple things that can go wrong.
Your off-peak period depends on your electricity tariff. The information should be on your bill. If you’re on a single-rate tariff, you won’t have an off-peak rate - your electricity will be the same price 24 hours a day.
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Even if you have a single-rate tariff, you should try and schedule your charging during off-peak times because it reduces the demand on the national grid, and produces less carbon. |
Your EV will allow you to specify how ‘full’ your battery will charge to, depending on your preferences. Many users choose to only charge to 80% full, for example, to help optimise the life of the battery.
Once the vehicle has reached its target ‘full’ point, it stops accepting any more power. Then the charger will automatically stop charging.
You can only set the ‘full’ point via your vehicle, not via your Indra charger. The charger will not override any settings your vehicle has in place already.
Your charger will be in standby mode when you’re not using it. Standby mode uses less than 5W, which is about the same as what your TV uses on standby. You can turn it off completely at the fuse box, but it’s not necessary or recommended.
This is completely up to you. Many EV manufacturers recommend only charging to 80% to prolong the life of your battery - although you can put more in if you’re going on a longer journey.
The charger uses ‘smart mode’, which means it can help you charge more efficiently. You can schedule charging to start during off-peak periods (normally overnight), when there’s less demand on the national grid, which can help reduce your carbon impact.
Smart mode is even better if you have an electricity tariff with varying rates (e.g. peak and off-peak), because it can enable you to schedule your charging for cheaper rate periods.
Your charger can deliver up to 7.4kW an hour, which is equivalent to adding around 25-30 miles of range per hour for most EVs. If you want to start charging outside of your scheduled charging window, you can use the Boost button via the app or on the charger unit to start charging immediately.
You can use the scheduling section of the app to tell the charger when you want your EV to be ready by, and it will help you calculate when you need to schedule your charging to start.
If you have solar panels installed at home, these can be set to supply power to your charger. The charger will take any surplus solar power that’s not being used by your home, to charge your EV. Your EV will need to be plugged in for this to happen. You may find you will only have surplus solar power during the sunnier months of the year. The surplus power needs to be higher than 6 Amps, or 1.4kW, for your vehicle to be able to use it.
If you have a charge schedule set up, your vehicle will also charge during that time window, as normal.
To use solar power when it’s available, simply click on the ‘Use solar’ switch in the scheduling section of the app.
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