GivEnergy EVC - Utterly useless

[AdamA86]

Hi all,

I'm coming up on a month of having the 21-plate Enyaq and loving the car so far. What I do not love is the charge point I decided to have installed. I was originally planning on getting a Zappi, but saw that I could save a couple of hundred beer tokens by getting the new GivEnergy one (& personally liked the idea of getting the GE AIO battery in a few years, so it would all be under the same app ecosystem).

Now I have Solar panels through a lease-a-roof scheme (which came with the house) so I don't benefit from export payments, therefore harvesting as much of the solar as possible was a deciding factor. EV charger had to be solar divert compatible.

So given this rambling backstory, 3 weeks later I can honestly say the GivEnergy charge point has been a big steaming pile of doodoo. When it is online (and it goes offline frequently) solar divert just doesn't work. As soon as 1.4kW of export is detected by the additional GEM120 (GE clone of an EM115 CT energy monitor) it charges as the full 7.7kW drawing the rest from the grid. I've been given the absolute run around by customer services, being told that:
a) it won't function in Solar mode unless I have a GE inverter (false) and
b) it should be wired directly into the inverter (false).

They say that the charge point should integrate with IOG soon and that it's with Octopus to approve the API, but with all the firmware issues, I honestly can't see them getting approved any time soon. I know IOG can currently control the car, but realistically, how long is it before VAG limits its API? It really does feel like a beta product that has been rushed to the market which they are asking people to pay to be their guinea pigs.

I should have and will most likely go with the Zappi 2.1. but they are unwilling to offer a refund based on not functioning as advertised & my installer's wholesaler is refusing a return due to it having been commissioned & technically functioning as a grid-connected charge point.

[orrery]

My brother had a Givenergy battery system and solar/battery inverter system installed and it performed so badly when compared against my Lux/Pylontech system that he had it pulled out. The main issue was software bugs meaning it didn't work properly.

[AdamA86]

My brother had a Givenergy battery system and solar/battery inverter system installed and it performed so badly when compared against my Lux/Pylontech system that he had it pulled out. The main issue was software bugs meaning it didn't work properly.

Yeah, I'm on a couple of the Facebook groups for GivEnergy systems and it seems like their firmware is a big issue for quite a few people. There seem to be many more issues around the EVC through. I know it is a new product, but it really shouldn't have been allowed out of the beta testing phase yet. I think their company ethos is basically to rival/beat MyEnergi in terms of product portfolio & in doing so they're rolling out deeply flawed firmware and banking on customers waiting around for a stable release.

[anglefire]

My brother had a Givenergy battery system and solar/battery inverter system installed and it performed so badly when compared against my Lux/Pylontech system that he had it pulled out. The main issue was software bugs meaning it didn't work properly.

I've have a GE system - since December 2021 and has had none of the reported faults. It may be the way mine was sized as the battery usually fully discharges every day, but the big SOC drops just haven't happened with mine. 4.6kWp split South and West and have generated 3.7Mwh and 3.6Mwh for the last two years. and about 500Mwh to date this year. Which is basically exactly what was predicted when we bought it. Shame the installer has since gone bump, but hey ho.

[orrery]

I've have a GE system - since December 2021 and has had none of the reported faults. It may be the way mine was sized as the battery usually fully discharges every day, but the big SOC drops just haven't happened with mine. 4.6kWp split South and West and have generated 3.7Mwh and 3.6Mwh for the last two years. and about 500Mwh to date this year. Which is basically exactly what was predicted when we bought it. Shame the installer has since gone bump, but hey ho.

It looked to me as though there was a software bug which resulted in the battery state-of-charge being reported incorrectly meaning that the whole capacity of the battery couldn't be accessed. This was only obvious as we could compare the two systems directly. I understand from looking on-line that an update has gone out in the last few weeks.

[anglefire]

I've have a GE system - since December 2021 and has had none of the reported faults. It may be the way mine was sized as the battery usually fully discharges every day, but the big SOC drops just haven't happened with mine. 4.6kWp split South and West and have generated 3.7Mwh and 3.6Mwh for the last two years. and about 500Mwh to date this year. Which is basically exactly what was predicted when we bought it. Shame the installer has since gone bump, but hey ho.

It looked to me as though there was a software bug which resulted in the battery state-of-charge being reported incorrectly meaning that the whole capacity of the battery couldn't be accessed. This was only obvious as we could compare the two systems directly. I understand from looking on-line that an update has gone out in the last few weeks.

Yes you are correct - but I monitor mine pretty closely (I use Home assistant) and its there or there abouts consistently. Having the battery and being on IOG, I have some automations that either hold the battery from discharging when the car charges or charges the battery at the same time (I didn't write the automation BTW!) - It also will discharge the battery back to the grid at the end of the day if there is some left.