Jaguar I-Pace drivers can no longer charge with cheap Octopus Energy tariff due to software change

Jaguar Land Rover and Octopus Energy are under fire from I-Pace owners after removing JLR electric vehicles (EVs) from the charging app with only a few hours notice.

Over the past week ‘furious’ users have been taking to I-Pace Forums to share emails they’ve received from Octopus Energy saying their electric vehicle won’t be compatible to smart charge with Intelligent Octopus Go due to JLR software changes.

Intelligent Octopus Go – ‘the UK’s most popular EV tariff’ – is a smart charging tariff that automatically charges your car when energy is cheapest.

At 7.5p/kWh – it claims to offer up to 70 per cent less than price cap rates. It also offers six hours of cheap energy overnight.

Over the past week ‘furious’ users have been taking to I-Pace Forums share emails they’ve received from Octopus Energy announcing that their electric vehicle won’t be compatible

The overnight removal for JLR EVs has left I-Pace owners facing higher charging costs, reduced off peak charging windows and in some cases, inability to charge at all

Jaguar I-Pace owner Judith Dooling told us she received an email ‘last Wednesday night from Octopus Energy to say that as of midnight that night I would no longer be able to charge my car [I-Pace] using the Intelligent Octopus Go app. Four hours notice.’

Like may users, Judith was instructed that she would have to manually schedule her I-Pace charging instead between 12.30am and 4.30am if she wants to make the most of off-peak prices and greener energy.

As well as cutting Intelligent Octopus Go off peak charging times by two hours (for compatible EVs it’s 11.30pm-5.30am), JLR owners will be moved to Octopus Go prices in two months time.

Octopus has informed customers this means it ‘can’t make the same savings’ it would for Intelligent Octopus Go users and that energy price will increase by 20 per cent.

The overnight removal for JLR EVs has left I-Pace owners facing higher charging costs, reduced off peak charging windows and in some cases, unable to charge at all.

JLR Customer Care informed owners that ‘a security breach in the third party app that Octopus and other energy suppliers use for intelligent charging during off peak hours’ is the reason for this tightening of security

After hours spent talking to JLR and Octopus ‘until I am blue in the face’, Judith has not been given a solution on how to get her I-Pace to charge manually.

She said: ‘I have tried things suggested on the iPace forum (full of very angry customers) but again last night my car did not charge.

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‘I am a pensioner, so probably born too late to be the technical whizz you would have to be to sort this out.

‘Instead I am left in a rural location, almost ten miles from the nearest public charger, with a car I can’t use and no-one helping me’.

In the end, a week later Judith’s I-Pace finally charged thanks to help from I-Pace Forum members, after the video sent by JLR Customer Care on how to get the vehicle to ‘wake up’ didn’t work.

Judith’s I-Pace finally charged thanks to help from I-Pace Forum members after JLR advice didn’t work

The reason given by Octopus via email to I-Pace owners is that JLR has made some changes to their software which prevents third party charging apps (including Octopus) from communicating with their cars.

An Octopus spokesperson told us: ‘When JLR confirmed that it would be upgrading its systems and the knock-on effect it would have on our customers, we quickly emailed everyone affected within 12 hours of the switch.

‘We’ve offered all JLR drivers their last EV charge ‘on us’ and will hold their rates at the IOG level for another two months before moving them onto our other EV tariff ‘Octopus Go’.’

‘It’s a shame JLR drivers are no longer among the hundreds of thousands of Octopus customers saving big with our smartest EV tariff ‘Intelligent Octopus Go’, but we’re glad to be able to move them onto one of the leading EV tariffs on the market.’

JLR has been having well-documented issues with vehicle security and theft recently.

JLR Customer Care informed owners that ‘a security breach in the third party app that Octopus and other energy suppliers use for intelligent charging during off peak hours’ is the reason for this tightening of security.

Background provided to This is Money by JLR is that this is a preventative measure to stop unauthorised access to vehicle and personal data via unofficial apps, as well as protecting warranty rights due to unofficial apps.

In a statement JLR said: ‘To continue keeping our clients’ data as safe as possible, we have updated how our electrified vehicles interact with the ever-growing list of third-party applications. As a result, some smart charging tariffs are affected. We are working with energy companies to keep our mutual clients informed of their options.’

I-Pace owners like Judith Dooling have been left equally unimpressed by the caveat from Octopus that ‘this was leading edge technology which might not always be reliable’

Many I-Pace drivers have said that they will ‘leave JLR’, while others like Judith have been left equally unimpressed by the caveat from Octopus that smart charging technology can be unpredictable:

‘They pointed out that when I signed up for Intelligent Octopus Go two years ago that I would have been told that ‘this was leading edge technology which might not always be reliable’.

‘I’ve been offered £30 customer service gesture for the inconvenience’.