Octopus Charge FAQs

We've built Octopus Charge for a simple, easy-to-use EV charging experience that doesn't compromise on performance. Simply plug in and relax, your EV will automatically charge when electricity is cheapest and greenest, maximising your savings on our Intelligent Octopus Go tariff.

If you have solar panels, Octopus Charge can use (if you want to) the electricity you generate to power your EV when your home doesn't need it, helping you make the most of your renewable energy.

We’re building out a whole ecosystem that works together. Getting your EV charger built, installed AND powered by us means everything connects seamlessly.

The same team who designed and built our EV charger, train our engineers to install it so they know the tech inside and out. Our engineers work hands-on with the kit every day, and our support specialists speak to customers daily – so they can quickly feed back to the designers, speeding up updates and remote feature improvements.

Octopus Charge is designed, installed and supported entirely by Octopus, with no third parties involved. You'll deal with us directly for all your EV needs – including charger installation, getting set up on our smart tariffs, managing your charging through the Octopus Energy app and tech support if you need it.

We’ll also keep your Octopus Charge updated with the latest software and features over time, just like a smartphone. It's charging that actually gets better with age.

There are two different versions of Octopus Charge. Untethered without a charging cable, and the Tethered with a 5m charging cable. For current pricing please visit our EV Charger sales page here.

Yes, Octopus Charge comes with a 3 year warranty, providing peace of mind for years to come.

There is also an option to extend the warranty to 5 years for £79.

It takes around 4 weeks on average to get a charger installed. However, in some areas it can take a little longer. Our EV team will work with you to find a date that works for you.

Octopus charge can detect when your home is exporting electricity to the grid. You can set the charger to charge your EV, when it’s plugged in, and there is more than 6 amps of power available. Most people with solar panels export their excess solar back to the grid or charge their home battery.

Octopus charge can detect when your home is exporting electricity to the grid. You can turn on Eco mode in the app to charge your EV, when it’s plugged in, and there is more than 6 amps of power available. Most people with solar panels export their excess solar back to the grid or charge their home battery.

You can turn on Eco mode in the app to charge your EV, when it’s plugged in, and there is more than 6 amps of power available. Most people with solar panels export their excess solar back to the grid or charge their home battery.

Octopus Charge can be added as a device onto the Octopus Energy app (even if you aren't with us for your supply). From here you can either use it in Manual mode where you can set your own schedules, or in smart mode when integrated with the Intelligent Octopus Go tariff.

Octopus Charger is designed to work seamlessly with the Octopus Energy mobile app and both Intelligent Octopus Go and Intelligent Drive Packs. It’s simple to use, you just set the time you want your EV ready by and the percentage of charge you’d like to add.

Octopus Charge works on any of our tariffs. You can use manual mode to either set a timed schedule on the charger, or it can be put in plug and charge mode so that it will start charging as soon as the EV is plugged in.

Yes. You will still need to set up the Octopus app with an account in order to access the charger settings, but you can use the charger in manual mode to either set schedules or have it in plug and charge mode.

Octopus Charge has 4G built in, which selects the best available mobile network – this is the default connectivity method. However if you’re in a poor, or no, reception area, there is wifi which can be used as a backup.

If you've changed Wi-Fi router or internet provider, and your Octopus Energy app has been disconnected from the internet, check out this guide on how to re-establish your Wi-Fi connection.

No problem, in the OE mobile app you can tap the ‘Boost charge’ button in the Octopus Charge control screen. Charging will begin shortly afterwards and the LED on the front of the charger will turn solid Green. Please note when using Boost Charge the cost of this will not be at the low off peak rate. Please note when using Boost Charge outside of off peak times will cost more, the amount being dependent on your tariff.

Yes, the charger has been designed for UK homes and has all the latest safety features and certifications. For more information please see the declaration of conformity.

The tethered charging cable is 5 meters long. If you require a longer length of cable you can opt for the untethered charger and purchase the size of cable that suits your needs.

The charging cable is a Type 2. Most EVs now use a Type 2 connection, however some older cars may still have a Type 1 connection. If you have one of these, you would need to choose the untethered charger and purchase a Type 2 to Type 1 charging cable.

Octopus Charge uses 4G as the primary method of communication. There is no dynamic switching between 4G and wifi, it's either in one or the other. During installation the charger will scan for available 4G networks to connect to, if the signal is not strong enough the charger will inform the installer to switch the device to Wi-FI mode.

When you plug in, your charger will automatically receive the schedule for that day/evening. If you lose connection during the charge, it will still follow the schedule during the day as it’s already stored. If in schedule mode the times you set for charging will be sent to the charger and stored locally, continuing to run even if your charger loses internet.

Sometimes you may see a charging error displayed within the Octopus Energy app, you could also see an error in your cars app or infotainment system. This could be due to a number of different reasons. One example is, the car stopped charging, as the charge limit the car is set to has been reached, the charger does not know the State of Charge of your vehicle so will just continue trying to charge throughout its schedule.

Another example is, while in Smart charging mode the schedule may stop and start throughout the night so that it charges your EV when the grid is at its greenest. The car may be expecting charging to be constant so will display an error when it stops.

Tip: Always check your EV to see if the state of charge you requested to be added has been met.

No, there is no ethernet connection. The charger connects to the internet using 4G or wifi.

• Flashing purple: Charger starting up

• Double Flash purple: OTA Firmware update in progress

• Solid purple: Charger online, in standby

• Flashing white: Awaiting customer onboarding

• Solid white: Vehicle connected, charger online

• Solid green: Charging

• Flashing amber: Charger offline, vehicle connected

• Solid amber: Charger offline

• Flashing blue: Bluetooth mode

• Solid blue: Access point mode

• Flashing red: Hard fault - requires unplugging from vehicle and then press reset button

• Solid red: Soft fault - charger will automatically reset when fault condition disappears

Here are 3 simple steps to get you all set up with your new Octopus Charge.

1. If you don’t have the Octopus Energy app already, download it from Google Play Store or App Store and create an account.

2. Once you’re logged into the Octopus app, select ‘Devices’ from the menu options at the bottom of the screen.

3. Tap on the Octopus Charge icon and follow the on-screen instructions.

For more information on this you can read this blog.

If there's a fault affecting your charger, the light on the front of your charger will turn red. The light will flash or not flash depending on what’s causing the fault:

• Solid red: this is a soft fault, and the charger will automatically recover.

• Flashing red: this is a hard fault. For this you’ll need to unplug your vehicle, then press the reset button under the charger to clear the fault. If the issue keeps happening, get in touch with customer support.

If the LED lights on your charger are amber, this means that the charger is currently offline, a flashing amber light means you are offline but plugged in.

It is always worth power cycling your charger (turning off at the breaker, leaving for a few minutes then turning back on) to see if this brings the charger back online.

If it remains offline you can check the strength of your signal by standing next to the charger with a mobile device connected in the same way.

For 4G signals, remember the Octopus Charge is equipped with a special SIM card that will connect to any UK network and will automatically pick the best network at its location. If you believe that the signal is not strong enough get in touch and we can look at changing it over to wi-fi.

For chargers on wi-fi, we can look at changing the connectivity over to 4G if there is sufficient signal, give us a call so we can look into this. If the 4G signal is not good enough then you would need to look into relocating your router closer to the charger or purchasing a wi-fi booster. The Octopus Charge cannot be hardwired to the internet.

Always check that there are no conflicting schedules or settings on your EV. These will need to be turned off to allow the Octopus schedules to complete properly.

Check if away mode is on, this ‘blocks’ the charger from being used at all as a security measure. You can toggle this off/on in the Octopus charge settings on the Octopus app. For more info on this see here.

• Is the vehicle still in an active charge session? This would need to be stopped before the cable can be removed.

• The cable should be removed from the EV first, then the charger.

• Check if the cable lock is on. This can be turned off/on in the Octopus Charge settings on the Octopus app.