The full kit
EV, solar and a battery — when it feels like a part-time job
You were sold "it all works together." In reality you're balancing Octopus, a battery app, a charger app and maybe the car — forever tweaking timers so nothing steps on anything else. That's exhausting, and it's not because you're bad at this.
This is the setup we know best: Intelligent Octopus Go (or similar), solar, a home battery, and an EV on the drive. Individually each piece makes sense. Together they fight over the same cheap hours and the same few kilowatts.
Why "forever managing" is so common
Almost every IOG household with the full kit describes the same feeling: a constant low-level admin job. Typical pattern:
- Battery app set to discharge before evening peak
- IOG scheduling the car through its app/API
- Wall charger left on fast while the car is supposed to be in charge
- Solar throwing free power in at midday when nobody's home
Each app optimises its device. None of them has a picture of "the car needs 30 kWh tonight, the battery should cover cooking, and we'd like to export the rest if the rate's good."
Real clashes we've seen
- EV charge starts during battery discharge. You've told the battery to push power out from 9:30–11:30pm to catch peak rates — and the car starts drawing at 9:35pm because IOG kicked off a car charge in the cheap window.
- Smart port vs "dumb" charger wiring. Some battery systems want to control the EV charger directly. If the installer connected it one way and the app expects another, you get weird partial charges or nothing at all until someone rewires or re-pairs.
- Three apps, zero trust. After a few failed nights you start checking everything manually — which defeats the point of smart tariffs.
Simplification trick: For two weeks, give each device a non-overlapping job. Example: solar+battery handle the house; IOG schedules the car with the wall box on fast; no "smart export" experiments. Boring, but it tells you whether the clash is scheduling or hardware.
You shouldn't need Home Assistant
Plenty of capable people buy a Home Assistant box, spend days on it, and give up. They want native apps that work out of the box — not a hobby. If you've been told the only answer is YAML and Grafana, that's a market failure, not a you failure.
We're building Wiggle for households who want the full kit to feel calm: one place to understand what's happening, and automation that respects comfort without a daily checklist. These guides are part of that — and your stories help us get it right.
Common questions
How many apps do I need for EV, solar and battery?
Often at least three — supplier, battery/inverter, charger — plus sometimes the car. They rarely show one coherent picture.
Why does my EV charging clash with my home battery?
Each device optimises locally. EV draw during a battery discharge window is a classic clash on IOG and similar tariffs.
Do I need Home Assistant?
No. Many households want something native that works without a DIY stack.
Sound familiar? We'd like to hear from you
We're talking to UK households who juggle this kit every day — including people who only look at the bill and wish someone would just explain it. Tell us your setup; we'll reply with practical suggestions.