Octopus Tracker

Telegraph_Sam

I was ignoring the cap, incorrectly.  What is it now for Dec 23 people and for the latest version?

BargainBear

It's basic economics at the end of the day; supply and demand. Everyone has a choice of which supplier they use, and every supplier is a business with overheads; they need to remain profitable in order to stay in business.  If a supplier wishes to charge a certain price for a unit of energy, you don't have to pay that price if you can find it cheaper.

Admittedly the choice of supplier is fairly limited at present.  That's not to say price gouging isn't going on, but we as consumers are reliant on regulators monitoring this and reigning it in if it does occur.

QrizB

BargainBear said:

One thing to remember is that Octopus utilise the energy from customers EV's whilst plugged in to offset purchasing any to meet demand

I don't think their V2G trial is still running, and (if it is) it only involves a small number of vehicles.

Other than thaat, the only way they can exploit customers' EV charging is via Intelligent Octopus Go where they can schedule charging to avoid peaks in demand. This is quite different to our claim of "utilising the energy from customers EVs".

BargainBear

matt_drummer said:

BargainBear said:

You'd hope that any supplier worth their weight would have their analysts looking at weather data, forecasts, market price monitoring and forecasting, and purchase at the best possible prices ahead of time, so they can offer the best prices and make the most profit; they're a business after all.

One thing to remember is that Octopus utilise the energy from customers EV's whilst plugged in to offset purchasing any to meet demand, with the attraction of providing a very cheap rate to charge said EV's during off peak periods.  Given that off peak periods are pretty much set in stone for most areas, they're quids in as they can purchase well ahead of time at the cheapest possible prices to meet the demands for the charging periods; that's if they purchase at all, they may just use the energy from renewables depending on generation and stored.

How?

They don't from either of mine!

That's because they can't, it isn't possible!

Using bi-directional charging - Can electric vehicle batteries help power the grid?

Perhaps your EV isn't compatible yet. (Bi-directional Charging)

matt_drummer

BargainBear said:

matt_drummer said:

BargainBear said:

You'd hope that any supplier worth their weight would have their analysts looking at weather data, forecasts, market price monitoring and forecasting, and purchase at the best possible prices ahead of time, so they can offer the best prices and make the most profit; they're a business after all.

One thing to remember is that Octopus utilise the energy from customers EV's whilst plugged in to offset purchasing any to meet demand, with the attraction of providing a very cheap rate to charge said EV's during off peak periods.  Given that off peak periods are pretty much set in stone for most areas, they're quids in as they can purchase well ahead of time at the cheapest possible prices to meet the demands for the charging periods; that's if they purchase at all, they may just use the energy from renewables depending on generation and stored.

How?

They don't from either of mine!

That's because they can't, it isn't possible!

Using bi-directional charging - Can electric vehicle batteries help power the grid?

Perhaps your EV isn't compatible yet. (Bi-directional Charging)

Most aren't.

One Tesla and one Peugeot.

And even if it was possible, they aren't destroying my cars by taking energy from their batteries!

I have a lot of home battery storage as well, they aren't having any of that either!

BargainBear

QrizB said:

BargainBear said:

One thing to remember is that Octopus utilise the energy from customers EV's whilst plugged in to offset purchasing any to meet demand

I don't think their V2G trial is still running, and (if it is) it only involves a small number of vehicles.

Other than thaat, the only way they can exploit customers' EV charging is via Intelligent Octopus Go where they can schedule charging to avoid peaks in demand. This is quite different to our claim of "utilising the energy from customers EVs".

From my understanding it still is.  Hence they're continually offering charger incentives if leasing particular EV's through their schemes.

They're also incentivised to help shift load, hence the TOU tariffs, and the "Saving Sessions" they offer.  Those free coffees and chargers aren't really free; "If something's free, you're the product."

I've also edited my original comment to include "some" to avoid panic and confusion.

QrizB

BargainBear said:

QrizB said:

BargainBear said:

One thing to remember is that Octopus utilise the energy from customers EV's whilst plugged in to offset purchasing any to meet demand

I don't think their V2G trial is still running, and (if it is) it only involves a small number of vehicles.

Other than thaat, the only way they can exploit customers' EV charging is via Intelligent Octopus Go where they can schedule charging to avoid peaks in demand. This is quite different to our claim of "utilising the energy from customers EVs".

From my understanding it still is (I work for a DNO).  Hence they're continually offering charger incentives if leasing particular EV's through their schemes.

Yes, you're right, https://octopus.energy/power-pack/

They're using ChaDeMo vehicles, which realistically means a Nissan Leaf or eNV200. And the only compatible charer is the Quasar 1 which is discontinued and no longer available.

Almost all vehicles sold today are CCS, and as far as I know there isn't a commercially-available bidirectional CCS charger. Happy to be proved wrong if you know otherwise!

Spoonie_Turtle

QrizB said:

matt_drummer said:

Is that the formula for the original/first version of the Tracker tariff?

and

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Are you sure that's for original Tracker, v1 way back when?  That looks more like Dec 23 formula to me.

It's the oldest formula listed at https://octopus.energy/tracker-faqs/ but that site doesn't identify tariff names, just the date the formula ceased to apply.

That's the Dec 23 formula then.

Before that we had v1, v2, v3, July (22?), Aug 22 I think, Nov 22, and some others in between.

bristolleedsfan

QrizB said:

matt_drummer said:

Wasn't the 30p limit imposed as part of the government support?

Original Tracker hasd a 30p/kWh cap for electricity, and 6p/kWh for gas (per this post). Everyone's expectation was that it wold never be hit., it was just a comfort blanket from Octopus.

I don't think it was reached until the various ructions of 2022.

Tracker v1 did not have any product cap until September 2021 which saw start of price spike and someone posted on Twitter about kWh rate being 30s, Octo Chief responded by saying will put cap on it

SJMALBA

FWIW/FYI, Tracker v2 formula, Northern Scotland:

(W * 1.199)+7.8629 p per kWh

December 2024 v1:
(W * 1.19836) + 12.65636 p per kWh