Charge Anytime FAQs for the Volvo x OVO partnership

To get the free miles, you need to own a Volvo C40 Recharge, Model Year 2024. You’ll also need to be an OVO energy customer, and be new to Charge Anytime.

If you have a Volvo C40 Recharge, Model Year 2024, you’ll see a promo code in your Volvo Cars app. You’ll need to enter this promo code when you start setting up Charge Anytime – either in the OVO app or in your OVO account. When you’ve finished setting up Charge Anytime in your Volvo Car app, we’ll add £50 credit to your OVO account – that’s the same as 2,700 miles of free driving.

If you have a solar-compatible charger, you’re eligible for the free miles.You’ll just need to charge through your EV charger app, instead of the Volvo Cars app. 

We’re still in the early stages of solar-compatibility. At the moment, you’ll need an Indra or Hypervolt charger to use Charge Anytime. These chargers have the technology to calculate how much power is coming from your panels, and how much from the grid. So we can accurately work out your Charge Anytime credit. 

We’re working hard to open up solar-compatibility to more customers as soon as we can.

Yes, you can choose a  specific switch date, up to a month in advance.

There are a few reasons why it might take a little longer than 5 days to switch, including:

• You switch after 5pm. If this is the case, your 5 working day switching period will begin on the next working day. You have changed your username and password and need to log in again.
• Your existing supplier stops OVO from taking over the supply. This might happen if you owe money to your existing supplier.
• OVO don’t have all the information they need to take over your supply. Or your information is incorrect.

If you need support, please email us at [email protected], or call us on 0330 175 9678 (lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, except bank holidays).

Kaluza is OVO’s trusted charging partner. They manage smart charging so you can get our Charge Anytime discounted charging rate. You’ll need to allow data sharing between Volvo, OVO and Kaluza, so they can control your smart charging through your Volvo Cars app. This way, Kaluza can schedule your EV to start and stop smart charging when you’re at home – making sure you’re only charging at the cheapest, greenest times.

Please note that Kaluza only uses your data when your EV is plugged in at home. For more detailed information, please see the privacy notices for Volvo and OVO.

Yes. Here’s how:

1. Go to the Volvo Cars app home view
2. Press the toggle arrow next to your currently connected EV
3. Select the car you want to add 
4. Once the new car is selected, press the charging icon
5. Press Continue
6. Set the home location
7. Press Done

Please note: The OVO x Volvo partnership only allows one set of free miles per household.

The OVO and Volvo partnership is for new Charge Anytime customers only at the moment. We’re hoping to open it up to more customers soon.

Yes, the OVO account holder needs to link their OVO and Volvo accounts in their Volvo Cars app.

Yes, once the OVO account holder has linked their OVO and Volvo accounts, and set up smart charging. Your family members will be able to see and control Charge Anytime in their Volvo Cars app. They just won’t be able to change the home location, or access the Charging Analytics and Insights part of the app.

Please note: Make sure you refresh your Volvo Cars app to be able to see changes made by other users.

Yes, the home location you set in the Volvo Cars app must be the same as your home’s smart meter location.

If your car is smart charging, you’ll be able to see that smart charging is toggled on, and the status set to Active.

When your car is plugged in you’ll also be able to see Scheduled in the smart charging screen of your Volvo Cars app. It’ll show details of your schedule, as well as the option to Charge Now.

If you’re currently charging you will see Done by, followed by the time your car is scheduled to stop charging.

If you don’t see any of the above, then you don’t have smart charging switched on. When you set a new schedule, it typically takes 2 minutes to be calculated and appear in the app.

Kaluza will use the following to work out the greenest and cheapest times to smart charge your EV:

• Set departure time
• Minimum state of charge 
• Battery state of charge
• Maximum state of charge

Please note: You can change the departure time and minimum state of charge in the Volvo Cars app. The maximum state of charge can be changed either in your EV or the Volvo Cars app - this is currently only available on iOS, but will be possible on Android by the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025.

Yes, there are 2 ways to turn off smart charging:

1. Switch it off in the Volvo Cars app, by toggling the switch. If you do this, it’ll stay off for all charging sessions until you turn it on again.
2. If you only want to override your current smart charging schedule to urgently top up, you can use the Charge Now button. If you do this, once you plug out and plug in again, smart charging will automatically turn back on again. 

The smart charging on/off toggle and the Charge Now button are in the charging overview screen in your Volvo Cars app. You access this by pressing the electric bolt on the home/start screen in the Volvo Cars app.

Please note: If you use the Charge Now function, you won’t be smart charging and will be charged your standard home electricity rate.

Yes. It’s essential that you remove any previously programmed schedules from your wall charger, as these will interfere with the Charge Anytime schedule. Any charging schedule previously set in the car will automatically be overridden by the Smart Charging schedule after it has been set up.

If your battery’s current charge is below your set minimum state of charge, your EV will start charging immediately – until the minimum is reached. This will be charged at your standard home electricity rate. Once it’s charged to the minimum, your smart charging schedule will begin, at Charge Anytime rates.

Another possible reason is that the scheduled departure time is soon, so the car needs to start charging immediately in order to be charged in time.

Please note: To optimize battery health Volvo Cars advise not charging your EV to 100% unless the full range is needed for your journey. 90% charge is recommended for typical daily driving.

Eligible Volvos connect directly with Charge Anytime, so you don’t need a specific charger.

We’re still in the early stages of solar-compatibility. If you have solar, you’ll need an Indra or Hypervolt charger to use Charge Anytime. These chargers have the technology to calculate how much power is coming from your panels, and how much from the grid. So we can accurately work out your Charge Anytime credit.

No, if you’re connecting via an eligible Volvo EV, you can control all your smart charging in your Volvo Cars app.

You only need to download and use the Charge Anytime app if you have:

• Solar panels and a Hypervolt charger
• A Volvo EV that’s not eligible for the promo, but is still Charge Anytime compatible 
• An additional non-Volvo EV you want to use Charge Anytime with

Note: If you have solar panels and an Indra charger, please use the Indra app to charge.

If you need your EV in a hurry, you can override your smart charging schedule with the Charge Now function in your Volvo Cars app. Any charging done outside of your Charge Anytime schedule will be charged at your standard home electricity rate.

Also, when charging your EV up to the minimum state of charge, you won’t get Charge Anytime rates, as this is counted as an override – you’ll be charged at your standard home electricity rate.

At the end of the month, we work out how much energy you've used to smart charge your EV. We'll use this information to credit your account in the first week of the following month. So that your smart charging rate reflects our 7p per kWh rate.

For example:

The Charge Anytime rate is 7p a kWh. And let's say your standard electricity rate is 26p a kWh.

We’ll credit you 19p for each kWh you’ve used to smart charge your EV. To make your smart charging rate 7p.

This means if you use 100 kWh of energy smart charging your EV, you’ll get £19 in credit back on your bill.

We apply credit from EV smart charging to your OVO account in the first week of every month. It’ll also appear on your monthly OVO energy bill under the heading Charge Anytime Credit. The credit shown on your bill is for the electricity you used for smart charging your EV the month before. So in the first week of September, you’ll see your credit for August.

You can email your query and any screenshots of your charging history to [email protected] or call us on 0330 175 9678. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, excluding bank holidays.

If you sell your Volvo, we ask you to disconnect your Volvo ID in the Volvo Cars app, or in the EV. Once this is done, Volvo Cars will let OVO and Kaluza know that your Volvo is no longer used for Charge Anytime. They’ll delete the EV’s direct connection. 

You’ll get your Charge Anytime credit for the period of the month your car was smart charging. And you’ll see the credit on your bill in the first week of the following month. 

If you have several eligible Volvos connected to Charge Anytime, deleting one of them won’t affect your overall Charge Anytime setup.

To set up a new Volvo EV with Charge Anytime, you must connect in the same way as your last car – via your Volvo Cars app.

If you move home, Charge Anytime doesn’t automatically go with you. You'll need to sign up to OVO again in your new home, then add Charge Anytime again when your switch is complete.