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UK Electricity Tariffs for EVs
- Thread starter interbear
- Start date
I recently switched to Octopus from OVO. My smart meter was compatible and the whole process was pretty smooth. Within a few days of the switch, Octopus confirmed that they're able to get half-hourly readings from my smart meter so were able to move me onto the Go tariff. Very happy with Octopus so far. Feel free to PM me for a referral link. 
They are advertising zappi on their website, maybe it was the old zappi 1 they don't work with now...the new zappi 2 is new olev compliant as it's been redesigned...main reason I went for zappi over anything else is the ability to talk to my solar panels and take the excess. Won't care what I got wall charger wise if it wasn't for that
I have looked at tariffs and have decided to go with Octopus but I did ask them the feasibility of installing a smart meter and this was their reply.
With any big, nationwide IT project, you’re going to hit snags, and SMETS2 has had a few. Most importantly, during the project, the government asked for some additional software security to be applied. This will be good for all of us in the long term.
Other, smaller problems were also being addressed, and like all big technology projects, this has taken some time. It would’ve be frustrating for you (and reckless of us) if we’d installed a SMETS2 meter that didn’t work properly, so we’ve had to wait for the technology to be ready.
The good news is that SMETS2 meters are now slowly becoming available. We’ve installed our first few already, but they are being rolled out area by area. So if you're opted into our information/marketing emails, you'll know when they're available for you.
That makes me think it will be a long wait before I can use their lower tariff. Added to which the meters rely on a good mobile signal which we do not have so the meter might not work even when it's installed.
Having said that, their economy 7 tariff is one of the lower ones so I will be happy with that for the foreseeable future.
With any big, nationwide IT project, you’re going to hit snags, and SMETS2 has had a few. Most importantly, during the project, the government asked for some additional software security to be applied. This will be good for all of us in the long term.
Other, smaller problems were also being addressed, and like all big technology projects, this has taken some time. It would’ve be frustrating for you (and reckless of us) if we’d installed a SMETS2 meter that didn’t work properly, so we’ve had to wait for the technology to be ready.
The good news is that SMETS2 meters are now slowly becoming available. We’ve installed our first few already, but they are being rolled out area by area. So if you're opted into our information/marketing emails, you'll know when they're available for you.
That makes me think it will be a long wait before I can use their lower tariff. Added to which the meters rely on a good mobile signal which we do not have so the meter might not work even when it's installed.
Having said that, their economy 7 tariff is one of the lower ones so I will be happy with that for the foreseeable future.
I’ve just switched to the EDF EV tariff as my current tariff was ending. In theory they say there’s a waiting list (I'm ordering an X soon, so wanted to get on the waiting list) but in reality got my invite after two weeks.
EV: Options > Tariffs
While not as good as Octopus at 8p/kWh, the 9pm off-peak start and all weekend off-peak better fits with my other electricity patterns. Like Octopus, it’s 100% renewables.
EV: Options > Tariffs
While not as good as Octopus at 8p/kWh, the 9pm off-peak start and all weekend off-peak better fits with my other electricity patterns. Like Octopus, it’s 100% renewables.
Thanks so far folks.
Seems Octopus is a favourite option for many. Their Octopus Go EV nighttime tariff should be good for me as EDF installed a SMETS2 smart meter a couple of months ago. I’ll take a closer look at them and Buld and also see if my current provider EDF do anything like this.
I had a look at Ovo too but the rates seem far higher than my current tariffs.
Seems Octopus is a favourite option for many. Their Octopus Go EV nighttime tariff should be good for me as EDF installed a SMETS2 smart meter a couple of months ago. I’ll take a closer look at them and Buld and also see if my current provider EDF do anything like this.
I had a look at Ovo too but the rates seem far higher than my current tariffs.
Did everyone who switched to Octopus Go for electricity also use Octopus for gas? I’ve always had a dual fuel tariff on the basis they tend to be cheaper than separate providers. But perhaps I need to change how I think about this as I switch to EV.
Back when we got the Leaf in 2015 I was with British Gas with an off peak rate of just over 4p a unit! Once that expired the best I could find was OVO with 8.8p, so I fixed with them for two years.
Now that deal’s ended OVO’s rates are nothing like as competitive, as you say. I’m glad that Octopus has the GO tariff, as that will bring my per mile cost right down again.
Octopus don’t offer any sort of dual fuel discount, so there’s no financial incentive to swap both to them. I’ve swapped both purely for the convenience of having one supplier, although they were cheaper than OVO for both the gas unit rate and standing charge! Also we only live in a small bungalow, insulated up to the hilt, so we don’t spend much on gas.
Is 4 hours enough? Would it be better to go with economy 7? I am looking to do something now cos we are still on single rate.
It depends on usage really. You could add 100 miles in those 4 hours which would be sufficient for me as I can't imagine I would drive enough in a week to need more than that
Actually that looks good to me, thanks. Should be simple enough to switch as my current EDF tariff is about to end.
And I also think that the longer off peak hours will suit me better. For my postcode:
> Octopus off peak is 5p per kWh for four hours between 00:30 and 04:30. Peak is 14.02p. Standing charge 25p.
> EDF off peak is 8p per kWh for 9pm-7pm during the week and all weekend. Peak is 18.6p. Standing charge 28.49p
If I assume that a 7kWh home charger such as the Andersen I’ve ordered will charge the Model 3 at approx 22 miles per hour. So a full (ish) charge would likely take 12 hours on average for an approx mileage of 264 miles. By my calculations this would cost:
> Octopus (7kWh x 4 hours x 5p) plus (7kWh x 8 hours x14p) plus 25p charge = £9.49 = 3.59p per mile
> EDF (7kWh x 12 hours x 8p) plus 28.49p charge = £7.00 = 2.65p per mile
Am I calculating this correctly or have I missed something?
I know I need to look at other usage, for example I work at home so have to carefully think about peak time charges, but for the EV element it looks to me as if EDF may be a better option and give more flexibility re off peak charge times. Especially if we do all washing, drying etc after 9pm.
The only assumption I can see in your calculations that doesn’t apply to me is the idea of doing a full charge overnight. I don’t think I’ve ever had to do that. I normally top up every two or three days to 80%, and rarely drop below 25%, on the basis that it’s kinder to the battery. With M3 on the GO tariff I’ll probably plug in every night to top up to 80%, assuming that I’ve not dropped below 50% the day before.
The only time I’d ever charge to 100% is prior to a long road trip, which is only a few times a year.
I agree the EDF tariff does add flexibility, but with a little bit of charge management I’m confident that I can keep my running cost close to 1p per mile.
EDIT: I also think you’re a bit on the low side with your 22 miles per hour charge rate, that’s assuming only about 3 miles per kW. I easily achieve 4 mi/kW in my Kona, and I’m expecting M3 to be about the same. So I’d expect to add about 28-30 miles of range per hour.
Another factor to consider of course is your annual mileage. I do around 15000 miles a year, so increasing the cost from say 1p to 2.5p per mile might not sound much, but the difference in cost for me would roughly change from £150/year to £375/year, so a worthwhile saving on the cheaper tariff.
EDIT: Just to put these costs into perspective, 15000 miles in my old Dirty Diesel would cost about £2250
EDIT: Just to put these costs into perspective, 15000 miles in my old Dirty Diesel would cost about £2250
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