Hi everyone
I have mini ev and have been using the mini app to charge in the cheap 11:30pm -5:30am time slot successfully for the past year.
For no apparent reason over the last week the app has defaulted to charge immediately even though it has been set to charge in the specified slot. Each time I reset it with relevant departure time etc and save input the mini app clears this data and defaults to “charge immediately”. I have updated app, logged out and on again but app still reverts to “charge immediately”.
Has anyone else had this issue?
Fyi, I used to use the Octopus energy app to control the ev charging but this became unreliable so i reverted to using the mini app. I will try the Octopus app again to see if it functions and hope it allows me to forget the mini app.
Any advice please.
Thanks

As you're on the Intelligent Octopus plan, that's the first thing I'd check. If your MINI is still registered through the app, Octopus is likely overriding your changes.

If that's not the case...a couple of questions.

Does the time slot change send successfully from the app?

Does the setting revert immediately, or does it take a little while?

Have you checked the settings in the car to make sure they match up with what you're seeing in the app?

Have you tried changing the settings directly inside the car?

 

For me
1) The settings in the App and Car match exactly. I have tried changing settings in the car and on the app.
2) It reverts to charge immediately after a few seconds.

 

Hi
Yes, I’ve tried setting from car and app and comparing to make sure they both match.
The Octopus charge app I disabled months ago when it started acting up so that has no access to mini currently. ( I have today allowed it access as I want to see if it will work and allow me to jettison the mini apps unreliable charging , i will see tonight if Octopus works again)

As far as the setting change is concerned, sometimes it’s an instant revert to charge immediately, other times it happens sometime later , no pattern there I’m afraid.

thank you

 

Hi everyone
I have mini ev and have been using the mini app to charge in the cheap 11:30pm -5:30am time slot successfully for the past year.
For no apparent reason over the last week the app has defaulted to charge immediately even though it has been set to charge in the specified slot. Each time I reset it with relevant departure time etc and save input the mini app clears this data and defaults to “charge immediately”. I have updated app, logged out and on again but app still reverts to “charge immediately”.
Has anyone else had this issue?
Fyi, I used to use the Octopus energy app to control the ev charging but this became unreliable so i reverted to using the mini app. I will try the Octopus app again to see if it functions and hope it allows me to forget the mini app.
Any advice please.
Thanks

I have had exactly the same problem since 2 - 3 months. I am just trying to find time to take in to the dealer.
Since. I live in France, not with Octapus and not connected to à intelligent charger’ I don’t think it is anything to do with the charger.
For more than 2 years it has worked perfectly.
So very interested to see if others have a solution.

 

I have had exactly the same problem since 2 - 3 months. I am just trying to find time to take in to the dealer.
Since. I live in France, not with Octapus and not connected to à intelligent charger’ I don’t think it is anything to do with the charger.
For more than 2 years it has worked perfectly.
So very interested to see if others have a solution.

Hi
It sounds like you have the same issue as me. It worked perfectly for the last year and without Octopus to confuse things too. So very similar to you. I wonder if there’s software in mini that needs updating ..,

 

🤔...definitely sounds like a dealer visit's in order. I've never seen or heard of this issue until now...please keep us all updated.

 

Have you checked the "Remote History" page within the app?

It'd be interesting to know if any remote commands are logged in their when it happens.

 

Hi
The remote history has multiple mentions of Charging Profiles.
From last night:
2:18
3:10
3:11
3:13
6:33
all successful.
I'm not sure what this means though

 

I'd send another change through and see how long it takes to revert. Then I'd check the remote history again and see if it's logged both your change, and the reversion

I'd also call MINI Connected and see if they can help. Maybe it's a glitch, or maybe they can see the source of the remote commands.

As unlikely as it is, I wonder if you're both having different issues. That log looks like a typical night for me on Intelligent Octopus. I know you've removed the car from Octopus already, but maybe it's a glitch at their end.

Google hasn't been much help. A huge percentage of people with issues are using Octopus, which seems to be the root cause. I came across one BMW thread about the exact same issue, but there were no replies.

I did find a post that said their settings wouldn't stick if changed through the normal settings screen, but would if they set it on the settings screen you get as you're turning the car off.

One guy said his was fixed by logging in to his Connected account through the car.

 

I'd send another change through and see how long it takes to revert. Then I'd check the remote history again and see if it's logged both your change, and the reversion

I'd also call MINI Connected and see if they can help. Maybe it's a glitch, or maybe they can see the source of the remote commands.

As unlikely as it is, I wonder if you're both having different issues. That log looks like a typical night for me on Intelligent Octopus. I know you've removed the car from Octopus already, but maybe it's a glitch at their end.

Google hasn't been much help. A huge percentage of people with issues are using Octopus, which seems to be the root cause. I came across one BMW thread about the exact same issue, but there were no replies.

I did find a post that said their settings wouldn't stick if changed through the normal settings screen, but would if they set it on the settings screen you get as you're turning the car off.

One guy said his was fixed by logging in to his Connected account through the car.

Thanks for that,
I just spoke to Mini Connected. They have done a remote update and advised me to follow the "press volume for 40 seconds reset in the car with the engine on, " then re-input the charge times there, and see what happens. They said to call back if this didn't fix it. We'll see...

 

Here's a couple of the posts I came across:

Strange behavior of 2016 BMW i3 charging settings

Strange behavior of 2016 BMW i3 charging settings

bmwi.bimmerpost.com

https://www.i4talk.com/threads/app-changes-from-charge-immediately-to-charge-in-time-slot-by-itself.8234/?post_id=208975&nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#post-208975

 

Yes. These describe same problem.

 

I use Octopus Intelligent Go and I have to say it's very much a dark art! It is now accepted that, when plugging the car in, Octopus sets out a charging schedule, which differs from that in the Mini App and yet, in the morning, it is fully charged and ready to go!

All you need to do is to plug in and forget it. It just works.

 

Yes, that was my experience too… then it didn’t 😀. I’ll try again now.

 

Plus one for what Ursus says re Octopus-they do seem to have improved it of late and the weirdness I initially experienced has reduced so I now trust it more. When i did have issues with either the car or Octopus i always stuck our simple podpoint 2 charger on timed so it only came on 11.30-5.30- that way making it impossible for car or io to win!!!!!

 

That sounds like a good plan too. Funny isn’t it? apps are meant to make life easier …

 

With one of the more recent updates, it resets to "charge immediately" if the doors are unlocked. Charging inside my own garage, I never lock the doors. I have usually had it set to "charge immediately" anyway, but as I've been parked outdoors while renovating the garage and fall time temperatures have quickly gotten much cooler when I wake up at 3:15 AM, a couple of times this week I wanted the battery to be pre-warmed before setting off, so I set a time slot to have the battery charged at my departure time as well as the cabin preconditioned. Because I only set it to run the time slot once, it (by nature) reverted to "charge immediately." But others have reported that if the doors aren't locked it now automatically charges immediately.

 

Same problem. Its a Mini problem. Quite a few people have posted similar elsewhere. Hope they get a fix soon.

 

Hi spoke to mini connected a 2nd time after they apparently did something their side. That didn’t work. Their volume reset procedure also didn’t work. Eventually the person I spoke to said that they were doing new software updates for November? I’m not sure what that means but when I asked if this was something I could do from
home he said “no”, I would need to take it to a mini service centre to get it sorted. Mine is a 2022 cooper model. So for the time being I have disabled Octopus charging and set my Easee One charger to charge from 11:30pm - 5:30am. As has already been posted, this means that any settings via the mini charging app don’t get a chance to mess up the desired charge window. This is working for me and since I have solar , if it’s sunny and I want to charge from solar I revert to letting the mini do its ‘charge immediately’ thing.

 

Set my car on the OctopusApp to smart charge last night to 80% but it carried on to 88% and only stopped when the inbuilt timer on my socket switched off at 5.30 causing a “charging interrupted” message on the Min App.

 

This all sounds like BMW/ Mini screwed up the software system during an update. This behavior is exactly what we had with our VW ID3 after 3 months but took them another 18 months to fix so it would charge in the preferred slot, but that was a minor problem compared to other people had.

Apparently, there was an issue when you , the software ‘handshake’ between the Mini and the charger when you connected the cable, and if it didn’t receive the right signal, it reverted to charge immediately and also wiped the preferred time settings in the car.

However , this problem with the Mini happens without the cable connected, and reverts almost immediately after programming.

. I haven’t had time to go to the Mini garage here but will do so next week. It is also disturbing I haven’t heard about a battery recall.

 

Hi I'm having this exact issue. I am on Octopus IO and had the smart charge enabled and it had been working fine but found that immediate charge was overriding it (and not even notifying me). Assuming it was an Octopus app issue, i disabled smart charge and set up an off-peak schedule in the app but have had the same issue that it will initial pause but then just start charging again without any notification. Driving me mad.

 

Hi, sorry to hear you’ve got the same issue.
Mine is still doing the same. I also tried redoing the Octopus set up but this didn’t work. It’s definitely to do with the mini as far as I can see.

My solution is to use the wall charger scheduler set to 11:30pm - 5:30am, this takes advantage of the Octopus cheap rate which you will still get wether you use their app or not.
If you stick with the wall charger schedule and ignore the mini app and Octopus completely, you’ll bypass all the fun and games. Obviously the issue is still there but this will be the least frustrating option which works for me.

 

I am still having the same issues. Mini Connected said the send an update to my car but still does not work.
I also looked at the cars remote history and there are loads of "Charging Profile" commands being sent to the Mini all the way through the night and day. Definitely not me sending them. I think this is where the issue is coming from.

 

The problems I was having earlier this week seem to have been resolved by deleting the Octopus app and reinstalling

 

That’s interesting .
My issues started with the mini app as I wasn’t using the Octopus app at all at that point since it started playing up months ago and I gave up with it. Perhaps there are multiple issues at play happening here. Glad you got a fix for yours.

 

Definitely the mini app for me. Mini Connected are aware of the issue. They are just struggling to find a solution. They send me instructionson how to update the car software to prevent this fault, but they sent me the instructionsfor the new Mini EV and mine is a 22 plate . Still awaiting the correct instructions.

 

Be great if you can post them if and when you get them…

 

I'm a bit over Mini if I'm honest.
This time around it's not been the best experience.
Don't get me wrong, the car is still great to drive however....
It has had a recall for the HV battery problem but instead of checking the car properly they have decided to update the software to prevent a "thermal event". That's a bit like saying yeah we know that your house might burn down because of a fault with the electricity supply but we won't fix it, instead we will give you a fire extinguisher just in case.
When I said I wasn't happy they rejected my concerns making reference to cars with engines as part of their excuses.
They are expensive for servicing etc Yes I know all dealers are, but over 1.6 times the price for 2 tyres that a mobile supplier fitted at my home and over £140 more than an independent EV specialist ( no , not Halfords !!)for the first service - they couldn't even make their minds up how much they would charge for that and have me 3 different quotes.
They quoted a ridiculous figure for some "advisory" work then when I questioned it said they were open to reduce the cost.
The car now charges as and when it wants and can't be controlled so I have to use the timer feature of the charger to make the most of the off peak rates . Not a big deal but far from ideal as they seem to have said they ain't got a fix.
Mind you a JLR dealership "stole" my last car having offered to buy it off me for X which I accepted. They transferred it over to themselves @ DVLA and it was showing as being in their stock but wouldn't cough up the money saying they had changed their minds and had offered me too much.
Perhaps they are all as bad as each other!!!

 

Don’t be frustrated. We experienced same with the charging with VW and the ID3. It took them 2 years to resolve it. The VW garage was clueless .. I knew more that them because of the UK VW forum. At least the Mini doesn’t turn into a brick, which is what happened when VW did ‘over the air’ software updates. Some people had to have their cars towed from their home, and the ID3 typically spent 2 days in a VW garage to have a revision to the software.
As someone said it is the app but not only. With VW it is how a safety feature built into the software works. If the BMW software is built similarly to the VW: 1) When you plug in to the charger there is a handshake between the Mini software (in the car ). The charger sends a signal to the car that it is connected and ready to charge. The software sends a signal back .. OK hit me. 2) When you set it to charge during the (future) time slot apparently the software in the charger and the car get out of sync. With the result one or other thinks there is a fault, so reverts back to ‘charge now’. 3) This fault usually occurs when some clever software bod has designed an update. My Mini worked perfectly for 18 months and the VW for 6 months ( both cars bought at end of 21 / beginning 22)
VW’s answer was that they were working with ‘charger manufacturers’ to resolve the problem. Although at the base there are not so many charger manufacturers, ( many are just branded versions of an OEM technology,) you can imagine how this goes. ‘Yes Mr VW/ BMW we can modify the code in our charger … but what about Renault, PSA, Kia and Tesla? Maybe you motorheads should put you heads together and develop a standard?’

Let’s see how this goes …and hopefully there is a solution soon.

As some said to me … Tesla built a computer and put a car round it… the others built a car and then tried to squeeze a computer in. 😉

 

Hi

If helpful for anyone, I have had an email from Mini Connect saying the new software will be released on the 9th December, so have booked an appointment a week or so after this.

Hopefully will resolve the issue!

 

That's good news. I assume it's a dealer job and not something you can do at home, then...

 

Not sure - i think some cars may have a remote update service where they can push the update but mine doesn't apparently. So mine does need to go to the main dealer.