Electric Vehicle Tariff

mikeodon

I am soon getting an electric vehicle but am unsure whether to change my electric tariff to an EV. Whilst EV tariffs have cheap off peak rates, standing charges and peak rates can be much higher. Is there a comparison site for this? To complicate it more I have a solar PV installation at home which will effect whether it will be worth changing or not. Does anyone have any advise on this? 

Gerry1

Can you have a completely separate tariff for the EV, possibly from a separate supplier? You'd have to pay two standing charges, but you wouldn't have to make any compromises between the house and EV supply rates.

jbuchanangb

I have just been involved in the acquisition of an EV and associated charging point. The charging point was not cheap but features the capability to be configured for an installation with solar PV. It will switch automatically between using the solar generated energy and grid energy for most cost effective charging. Incidentally prior to the installation of the specific charging point, I charged the EV twice overnight from a 13amp socket, from 20% to 100% charge and it consumed 40KwH per charge. It took 16 hours to charge, running at about 2.4Kw.

takanodia

I’m also interested to hear what is the best option here

Petriix

The comparison is *complicated* so be prepared to get your hands dirty in spreadsheets.

Much of the complexity is down to how much you are able to switch demand away from peak periods. Many people swear by Octopus Agile (which apparently went to -9.8p/kWh last night) but, with peaks of 35p/kWh, you have to be certain that you won't use too much power between 3pm and 9pm. That's why lots of people opt for their Go tariff instead.

If your regular usage is high anyway then you will likely be better off with a cheap overall rate. If you don't use much or can shift your demand away from the daytime then there are lots of tariffs worth looking at. Edf are doing 8p/kWh nights and weekends vs ~ 18p/kWh peak and SSE are offering 2000kWh of free EV charging but 17p/kWh for everything else.

Also, depending on when your solar PV was installed, you may be better off exporting your surplus rather than diverting it to the car. If you get deemed exports then you're better off using as much of your generation as possible.

bristolleedsfan

Petriix said:

The comparison is *complicated* so be prepared to get your hands dirty in spreadsheets.

Much of the complexity is down to how much you are able to switch demand away from peak periods. Many people swear by Octopus Agile (which apparently went to -9.8p/kWh last night) but, with peaks of 35p/kWh, you have to be certain that you won't use too much power between 3pm and 9pm. That's why lots of people opt for their Go tariff instead.

Octopus Agile peak period is 4pm-7pm

[Deleted User]

I have recently installed a 7kWp array; Powerwall 2 and the MyEnergi Zappi and EDDI. I have also been an Octopus Energy customer for over 2 years - recently, on their Agile tariff and now on Go. Agile is undoubtedly cheaper than Go if (a) you can avoid the 4 to 7pm evening period and (b) you are not looking to charge an EV every night. My average Agile cost per kWh during the summer was 8p/kWh. It has increased recently because a number of nuclear power stations have been offline. I am now on Go as my Powerwall 2 needs to top up overnight if solar output is low. It can do this at 5p/kW. I know that people get very excited about Agile's plunge pricing but such events are not that frequent. Peak prices on Agile can be as high as 35p/kWh from 4 to 7pm (and recently through to 8pm): today the cost increases to 32p/kWh for my region falling back to 14.78p/kWh after 7 pm. Cheaper Agile periods are usually overnight and in the afternoons.

I will shortly be applying for Octopus SEG payments: unfortunately, I cannot then remain on Go so I will probably switch back to Agile. Of note, some consumers have become frequent Agile to Go, back to Agile switchers. This has been noticed and it would seem from Facebook reports that Octopus has brought in a condition that consumers cannot return to Agile within 3 months of leaving.

A couple of other points to consider. GO and Agile billing is based on 30 minute usage billing. Octopus uses a third-party, TMA, which uses what is known as a CGI Adaptor to recover data from the DCC. Sadly, this process is not yet 100%. The loss of one 30 minute usage figure puts a roadblock on Octopus' monthly billing system. This applies to both gas and electricity (Tracker tariff). Missing data has to be recovered manually and this often requires a nudge to the smart team at Octopus. In fairness to Octopus, customers are agreeing to a BETA tariff(s) and they are the only supplier using half hour usage for billing.

macman

First thing you need to know is your current leccy usage in kWh. Do you already have E7, storage heaters, or an immersion heater? If so, quantify the percentage used on cheap rate from your billing.
Assuming no E7, work out what you will use to charge the car, which is the battery capacity x no. of full charges per week, or equivalent thereof. This will give you another kWh figure. Add that to your current usage.
Then you just need to do 2 comp site comparisons, one using the E7 proportions including the car, and one on single rate.
No one is going to be able to guesstimate for you, because it'll be dependent on the battery capacity, range and mileage.

JC_Derby

jbuchanangb said:

I have just been involved in the acquisition of an EV and associated charging point. The charging point was not cheap but features the capability to be configured for an installation with solar PV. It will switch automatically between using the solar generated energy and grid energy for most cost effective charging. Incidentally prior to the installation of the specific charging point, I charged the EV twice overnight from a 13amp socket, from 20% to 100% charge and it consumed 40KwH per charge. It took 16 hours to charge, running at about 2.4Kw.

Do you also have battery storage then?

UnclaimedEnergy

mikeodon said:

I am soon getting an electric vehicle but am unsure whether to change my electric tariff to an EV. Whilst EV tariffs have cheap off peak rates, standing charges and peak rates can be much higher. Is there a comparison site for this? To complicate it more I have a solar PV installation at home which will effect whether it will be worth changing or not. Does anyone have any advise on this? 

How often would you be charging your EV? if you're not normally doing out of town trips daily then you may not need to charge it daily.

If you will probably charge it daily then Octopus Go might be the best option as the standard unit rate isn't too expensive. However you can compare all of the EV tariffs on Zap Map - https://www.zap-map.com/charge-points/ev-energy-tariffs/

It might be worth at the same time doing a comparison and comparing a supplier with really cheap elec rates (Green.Energy are cheapest that also offer Gas) - however that's on a variable rate.