UK Electricity Tariffs for EVs

[Edsh0t]

I'm confused!

I'm currently with British Gas but it's up for renewal so now is the time to consider a change especially as my Model 3 is coming. I don't have any type of SMART meter so am I right in saying it might not be easy to switch to Octopus GO? Simplicity looks decent at 10.5p/kwh so that might be my best option?

 

[Roy W.]

The Octopus GO tariff requires a smart meter. They *should* put one in for you, but some people have been waiting ages.

If you don’t mind perhaps switching twice you could move to Octopus, give them a month or two to fit you a meter, and if they don’t then go somewhere else. Octopus won’t charge you any exit fees.

Also if you switch to Octopus using a referral code we both get £50, so that will help a bit with the higher initial unit cost until you get your smarts installed.

Please DM me if you’d like a referral code.

Cheers,
Roy.

 

[TezzyMod3]

I signed up to Octopus .

Sign up took 5 minutes, got a timeline of exchange. Flowing well with exchange day. British Gas sent me a ‘sorry you’re leaving email’ soon after.

They said I have to request the meter after I move mid September.

 

[Roy W.]

I signed up to Octopus .

Sign up took 5 minutes, got a timeline of exchange. Flowing well with exchange day. British Gas sent me a ‘sorry you’re leaving email’ soon after.

They said I have to request the meter after I move mid September.

That’s been my experience with Octopus too - good communication and swapped on the day they said. I already had a Secure branded smart meter from my previous supplier, and that was working with the GO tariff within a few days.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

I've waited for two months for Octopus to give me a date for their smart meter to be fitted and have given up with them, so I'm switching to Green Energy which is not a smart tariff but low enough that over the 24 hr period it will probably equal Octopus Go based on the amount of charge my Model 3 is going to need each night.

I'll see how things go after a few months and then maybe the likes of Bulb and Octopus will have got their acts together in my region and I'll some other options.

 

[mrobins64495]

How is everyone getting such cheap Tarrifs with them. I went into their site and it’s close to 15p per kWh in the southeast.

 

[Roy W.]

Here’s a direct link to the Octopus GO tariff:

https://www.octopusev.com/octopus-go

With this you get four hours a night at 5p a unit, from 0030-0430.

You do need a smart meter, either from Octopus, or a Secure branded one from another supplier will often work.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

The Octopus Go day tariff is 13.8p where I am. As I use quite a lot during the day I can't shift to those 4 night hours, it's not such an attractive smart tariff for me. Bulb would have been better, but they are worse than Octopus when it comes to delivering a smart tariff right now.

The whole industry needs a boot up it's arse.

 

[Roy W.]

The whole industry needs a boot up it's arse.

I agree! This is an area where OLEV could perhaps do a bit of tinkering to encourage EV adoption. Looking forward to the new OLEV Tariff, with subsidised electricity

 

[Mark_T]

I signed up to Octopus .

Sign up took 5 minutes, got a timeline of exchange. Flowing well with exchange day. British Gas sent me a ‘sorry you’re leaving email’ soon after.

They said I have to request the meter after I move mid September.

If you signed up for their Go tariff, then it isn't so much about you requesting a smart meter, it is just a matter of waiting for them to tell you that they are ready for you to book an installation.

In the end I have been fortunate with a relatively short wait, I switched in at the end of July, and got the invitation to book an installation a few days ago. The earliest available appointment was at the beginning of October. So that is about 10 weeks assuming the installation proceeds as booked.

It does seem that not everyone is as fortunate.

 

[meavydev]

I've switched to EDF GoElectric as I was already with EDF and had their smart meter.
It only took about a week in total from my first inquiry.
As the house has only got electric heating, the longer evening and all weekend cheap rates should make a difference as well as charging the car.

 

[ElectricJoules]

I have 2kw of solar panels and a SMETS2 smart meter with display in the kitchen. I also have a M3 and a 13amp plug from which I charge. At present when I see from the display says I'm sending over 1kw back to the grid (about 10am on a sunny day at present) I start charging. When the display says I'm drawing more than 500w from the grid (about 3pm) I stop charging.
Can I automate this? I've a Raspberry Pi I've never used and am happy to buy a £10 SDR (Software Defined Radio) to try and get at the SMETS2 ZibBee 868MHz signal. Is the signal encrypted in such I way that I will not be able to get at it? All thought welcome.

 

[MaDProFF]

I emailed EDF about their EV tariff last week. I'm currently with the green network. I had this email back:

We’ve checked the details of your electricity meter and we’re sorry to inform you that it’s not compatible with our two-rate GoElectric tariff. This is because the meter installed at your home is a “SMETS 1” Smart meter which was not installed by us. Due to an industry-wide issue, these meters lose their smart capability when you change supplier, so we couldn’t accurately measure your usage during the unique off peak hours of the tariff. There are industry plans to “enrol” these meters into the national network, at which point we’ll be able to support them and offer the two-rate version of our tariff, but this is not due until late 2020 or early 2021.

This smart meter rollout sounds likes it's been a monumental cock up. I've been reading this thread thinking how unsmart these so called smart meters are, with the different versions and protocols - why they can't all use open source software and be upgradeable is a total joke in this day and age.

They offered me this tariff:
Fuel: Electricity
Tariff Name: GoElectric Sep20 Single Rate
Fixed Until: 30/09/2020
Daily Standing Charge: 28.49p per day
Unit Rate: 12.25p per kWh
Exit Fee: £ 30

So that's Octopus and EDF out the window for me, I'll need to look into economy7 I guess? I don't know how that works regarding meters?

You need to tell them to install a gen 1 day/ night metre, that has been set to the correct tariff times, the only difference is you still have to give your pwn readings, that is how I got it installed

 

[kevuwk]

I have 2kw of solar panels and a SMETS2 smart meter with display in the kitchen. I also have a M3 and a 13amp plug from which I charge. At present when I see from the display says I'm sending over 1kw back to the grid (about 10am on a sunny day at present) I start charging. When the display says I'm drawing more than 500w from the grid (about 3pm) I stop charging.
Can I automate this? I've a Raspberry Pi I've never used and am happy to buy a £10 SDR (Software Defined Radio) to try and get at the SMETS2 ZibBee 868MHz signal. Is the signal encrypted in such I way that I will not be able to get at it? All thought welcome.

I've not looked in to it too much but it should be possible to add a CAD (consumer access device) to the SMETS2 HAN (home area network) that could pull some data from the meter.

I've found some info in the past but didn't really pursue it. Smart Meter consumer access devices

 

[Bernard_S]

Finally got a date of first week of October for my SMETS2 meter install from Octopus. They have been having no end of supplier problems but things seem to be finally on the move.

 

[Mark_T]

Finally got a date of first week of October for my SMETS2 meter install from Octopus. They have been having no end of supplier problems but things seem to be finally on the move.

7th October for me, so not long now.

 

[davidmc]

Finally got a date of first week of October for my SMETS2 meter install from Octopus. They have been having no end of supplier problems but things seem to be finally on the move.

When did you join Octo and apply for the smart meter?

I joined in June and clicked the "Give me my smart meter" button straight away (Not heard a thing)

 

[m3gt2]

How long does it normally take to get a smart meter fitted? Think I am going to go for EDF as I think the long off peak hours will be a bigger benefit than the 4 hours on Octopus

 

[kevuwk]

24/09 for a SMETS1 from Octopus. I'm more concerned about getting on Go than waiting around for a SMETS2 meter

 

[Keith h]

Bulb have an overnight rate (8 hours) of 7.6 pence which is quite good