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New Octopus Go tariff and off peak options?
- Thread starter vitesse
- Start date
I'm trying to work out what I might save from switching from diesel to electric, including moving from my current tariff (NPower) to Octopus Go, but I'm not sure if what I've done so far is completely accurate/realistic:
20,000 miles per year x an average of 0.28 kWh per mile = 5,600 kWh @ £0.05 = £280.
However, is 0.28 realistic - I know it depends on so many factors, but from a trawl through the forum looking for what people were getting it would seem to be somewhere around the middle of the range?
I know that all my charging won't be at the off-peak rate, but most should be, and that which isn't should be offset by the charging I will be able to do for free on the Charge Place Scotland chargers?
The Octopus Go tariff has a slightly higher standing charge than my current one, so that adds another £24.
Then I have an adjustment in my gas tariff/standing charge as a result of the switch to Octopus which saves me £145.
I know that the Octopus Go tariff includes VAT but are their gas tariffs the same?
So overall an annual cost of £159 which equates to £0.01 per mile.
I can't help but think I must be missing something?!
When I compare that to my current car:
20,000 miles per year @ an average of 38 mpg = 526 gallons @ £6.14/gallon (assuming £1.35/litre) = £3,230
So a saving of over £3,000 per year.
20,000 miles per year x an average of 0.28 kWh per mile = 5,600 kWh @ £0.05 = £280.
However, is 0.28 realistic - I know it depends on so many factors, but from a trawl through the forum looking for what people were getting it would seem to be somewhere around the middle of the range?
I know that all my charging won't be at the off-peak rate, but most should be, and that which isn't should be offset by the charging I will be able to do for free on the Charge Place Scotland chargers?
The Octopus Go tariff has a slightly higher standing charge than my current one, so that adds another £24.
Then I have an adjustment in my gas tariff/standing charge as a result of the switch to Octopus which saves me £145.
I know that the Octopus Go tariff includes VAT but are their gas tariffs the same?
So overall an annual cost of £159 which equates to £0.01 per mile.
I can't help but think I must be missing something?!
When I compare that to my current car:
20,000 miles per year @ an average of 38 mpg = 526 gallons @ £6.14/gallon (assuming £1.35/litre) = £3,230
So a saving of over £3,000 per year.
You don’t need to do the sums, electric is definitely cheaper than diesel!
I’d probably use 0.32 kWh per mile myself, and add on 10% for charging inefficiency/pre-conditioning/sentry phantom drain/when car isn’t sleeping.
You’ll probably use some paid chargers typically 28 p/kWh when away from home.
I’d probably use 0.32 kWh per mile myself, and add on 10% for charging inefficiency/pre-conditioning/sentry phantom drain/when car isn’t sleeping.
You’ll probably use some paid chargers typically 28 p/kWh when away from home.
tj333
Member
- 0.28 is realistic, I'm averaging 0.27kWh/mile over 8,500 miles (got the car in late sept so mostly cold weather driving), hoping for a slight improvement in summer.
- octopus gas tariffs; standard gas tariffs, then Go for Elec
- your sums look correct to me, I do approx 28,000 miles per year and 90% of my charging on the 4hr Go 'window'. Occasional supercharges for long trips but I guess you'll have Charge Place Scotland so that will be free for you too. The massive fuel saving was one of the contributors to the man maths that justified the purchase for me!
- octopus gas tariffs; standard gas tariffs, then Go for Elec
- your sums look correct to me, I do approx 28,000 miles per year and 90% of my charging on the 4hr Go 'window'. Occasional supercharges for long trips but I guess you'll have Charge Place Scotland so that will be free for you too. The massive fuel saving was one of the contributors to the man maths that justified the purchase for me!
If you're in Scotland don't forget the EST grant (£300) as well as the OLEV grant (£500) when getting charger fitted.
I got my car 19th December, so still getting up to speed. I'm doing roughly 15,000 miles per annum and I'm spending about £6 per week on electricity for the car. I used to spend £45 a week on my 1 series 120d diesel, so the savings are big. I'm also using Octopus Go.
Jason71
Well-Known Member
Looks OK but a couple of points .
There is a 10%ish charging loss with a 7kw home charger. greater if using a umc. People rarely seem to include this.
Is octopus really the cheapest gas supplier ? If not why not go elsewhere for gas?
MrBadger
Badger out
I just spoke with them and a combined IHD and CAD device is expected at some point fairly soon, but the gas readings are very coarse* (30 minute - I am after at least 5 minute, but probably not an option see * below) and the usage data must first be uploaded to their servers then their App and/or API allows you to access them from there - no local access is available although they are monitoring the requirement but currently does not feature in their plans.
I'm wondering if there is an open source zigbee based project anywhere that accesses the data locally as per the IHD.
* the limitation of 30 minute updates seem to be a battery saving feature to allow the battery of a smart gas meter to last 10 years,
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I suspect that is going to be unlikely.
In order to connect to the HAN so the data can be retrieved the device needs to be paired. The pairing is under the approval of your supplier and they will (not unreasonably) only agree to pair approved/tested devices.
We need someone like Hildebrand to produce a device designed for local data access, but they do not seem inclined to do that.
That makes sense and I doubt you'll get around that one as early battery replacement will have a cost of course...
It's an interesting exercise but I would be wary of making the switch on the basis of how the numbers happen to work at the moment. Certainly in the future there will be some shifting around of EV related taxes and costs. Thankfully we are still at the stage of not wanting to discourage EV take up ... but ... One of the reasons that electric power is so much better value than diesel or petrol is not just because it is intrinsically cheaper and more efficient but because we do not presently have any specific vehicle fuel tax on the electricity we use for our vehicles. If petrol and diesel was taxed like electricity the numbers would be significantly different. The loss to the taxman if/when we are all driving electric means that at some point the tax will be transferred onto electricity for cars in my opinion... (and by that time I hope to be charging by solar!)
Need advice guys, been reading all the posts and not sure which route to take with regards to choosing an energy supplier.
I don’t have a smart or E7 meter at the moment, so whoever I choose will need to install a new meter. My current energy supplier; Shell Energy, won’t install a new one.
I only do about 200 miles a week so which would be more cost effective to me, a smart or E7 meter?
As I do not have the car yet I have no clue about the best way to charge it and that’s why I can’t decide which route to take. Do you recommend topping up the charge on the car every night or would you let it drop to 20% before charging back up to 80/90%?.
Cheers
Steve
I don’t have a smart or E7 meter at the moment, so whoever I choose will need to install a new meter. My current energy supplier; Shell Energy, won’t install a new one.
I only do about 200 miles a week so which would be more cost effective to me, a smart or E7 meter?
As I do not have the car yet I have no clue about the best way to charge it and that’s why I can’t decide which route to take. Do you recommend topping up the charge on the car every night or would you let it drop to 20% before charging back up to 80/90%?.
Cheers
Steve
I do a similar mileage to yours. Once I lost the benefit of free supercharging after changing my Tesla, I decided I needed to do as much charging as possible at home using a Tesla Wall Charger that I had had installed for my original Model S.
Personally, Octopus Go seemed the best choice as I am able to time Tesla charging, washing machine, tumble drier and dishwasher to operate within the four hour low tariff period. Using Teslafi I'm able to schedule a charge start and end time and limit final status to 90%. I usually do a four hour charge two or three times weekly allowing my state of charge to reduce to 30% (100 miles for my Model S) and then replenishing it to 90% (310 miles)
I did already have the benefit of a smart meter that had been installed by EDF earlier this year but for some reason that does not give Octopus my Gas usage so I send them a reading each month which takes about 1 minute online. My understanding is that Octopus are slowly getting better at their installation of smart meters.
There are certainly other providers out there and there is no substitute for reading the forum thoroughly.
To sum up I would definitely recommend a Tesla Wall Charger, not cheap but good quality, Octopus Go and Teslafi especially if you are able to reschedule as I have done other heavy usage items.
I've also sent you a DM which you may care to use in due course.
Personally, Octopus Go seemed the best choice as I am able to time Tesla charging, washing machine, tumble drier and dishwasher to operate within the four hour low tariff period. Using Teslafi I'm able to schedule a charge start and end time and limit final status to 90%. I usually do a four hour charge two or three times weekly allowing my state of charge to reduce to 30% (100 miles for my Model S) and then replenishing it to 90% (310 miles)
I did already have the benefit of a smart meter that had been installed by EDF earlier this year but for some reason that does not give Octopus my Gas usage so I send them a reading each month which takes about 1 minute online. My understanding is that Octopus are slowly getting better at their installation of smart meters.
There are certainly other providers out there and there is no substitute for reading the forum thoroughly.
To sum up I would definitely recommend a Tesla Wall Charger, not cheap but good quality, Octopus Go and Teslafi especially if you are able to reschedule as I have done other heavy usage items.
I've also sent you a DM which you may care to use in due course.
I’d also recommend Octopus GO. I moved from OVO, where my E7 rate was almost 10p per unit, so the GO rate of 5p is half what I was paying.
My split is about 70% off peak, 30% peak, and I manage to do all of my home charging during the four hour GO window. On my LR car I can add over 100 miles of range in the 4 hours.
As for charger, the only drawbacks with the Tesla Wall Connector are
1. It doesn’t qualify for any grants, and
2. It needs an expensive earth leakage breaker adding to conform to the latest electrical regulations.
In that respect you might be better going for a different charger, and get some benefit from a grant.
As for charging, I usually plug mine in if it goes below 60%, and charge up to 90% unless I’m planning a long trip and need 100%.
Jason71
Well-Known Member
At that milage I don't think you could make economy 7 work for you unless you have electric heating.
Even if (and it is an if these days) you could find someone to install an E7 meter There is always a higher daytime rate of something like 15.5 p/kwh. even if you can do all your charging during off peak, overall, dependant on how much other electricity you use, you will probably find the high day rate nullifies any advantage of the cheap night rate.
I am with the others that Octopus is easily the best option but if you have any issue with getting a smart meter then a supplier like symbio who only charges 11.7p/kwh all day and night (where I live) could actually e better than E7 and would not need a new meter.
The meter for you is the one that can supply you at a cheap rate when you need it. Some people will find an E7 meter suits them though most people are using smart meters to take advantage of more varied off-peak rates. There are always swings and roundabouts. The Octopus Go EV off peak rate is super cheap at 5p per kWh but as it lasts from 00.30 to 0:430 you do have to make best use of those 4 hours. Fo most people with a home charger that works out just fine for average mileage. You do need a smart meter for Octopus Go .. if you have a SMETS2 or a SMETS1 made by Secure you are all set to go. Octopus will arrange for you to get a meter if you go onto one of their other tariffs meantime and let them know you want to go onto Go. Sometimes this is done quickly, some people have had to wait .. they'll give you an idea.
Plugging in every night, if feasible, is the best approach for several reasons. One is that this is recommended by Tesla and gives the car every opportunity to optimise the battery management. Also if you are plugged in when you switch on the heating in the car 10 minutes before you leave (using the app) the power to heat up will come from the mains and not from your battery ... leaving you more range... you need this in the winter! Another is that you always want your car to be ready in the morning for whatever the day may bring ... plenty of charge onboard. You may well work out that the miles you cover in a week may only look like one charge needed but that presumes you will start some days with a very low charge so may be unable to complete that unexpected extra journey that came up. (The first time you do that all the naysayers will be queuing up to laugh and point!) One of the EV advantages (if you have home charging) is you never really have to think much about "filling up" ... if it's routinely plugged in it's always ready in the morning. (You set the percentage on the car, say 90% that you want it to have.)
Thanks guys, I already have my charger. I went with PodPoint and had it installed in my garage as that’s where the car will be parked overnight.
I will look into getting Octopus Go and get them to install a new smart meter. Adding 100 miles in the 4 hour window is more than enough for my needs. I’d say I only do about 20 miles per day on weekdays and the rest at weekends.
Cheers guys
Thats was my thinking. If I just do a top up charge to 80/90% every night then at least if something comes up I have a fully charged car.
I’m not sure if it will make a difference to the battery but my garage is due to be temperature controlled so it will generally be the same temperature as the house in winter. It will always be in the garage at night.
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