Worth Switching in this scenario?

gandalftheking

Hi all,

Getting a Nissan Leaf EV has prompted this question:

I have a referral link (£50 to my account) for joining Octopus, where they offer a 5p rate on electricity (only 4 hours overnight when I will charge the vehicle. It's only a small battery relatively speaking so won't take an age to charge).

I am with British Gas (fixed until May 2023), and I understand they will charge £75 for an exit fee. British Gas have recently told me that we were on one rate 24/7, but are changing it to a cheaper rate overnight (unknown rate). I'm not sure I trust that this will happen.

I know the general MSE advice is that it's not worth switching in the current climate, but in this scenario am curious if it might be worth it....

All advice welcomed.

QrizB

If you're buying an EV and will chage it at home, an EV tariff like Octopus Go or Go Faster will often make sense.

Note that the current Octopus tariffs aren't as good as 12 months ago; the current Go offer is 7.5p/kWh for 4 hours at night then around 35p/kWh for the rest of the day. You should estimate how much cheap rate electricity you can use, and whether it's enough to counteract the extra 7p/kWh on the day rate for your other domestic consumption.

(It's probably still worth it; if you're charging your car with 5kWh/day and your house uses 8kWh/day, Go will save you about 45p/day vs. the 28p/kWh standard rate.)

gandalftheking

These estimates are frankly beyond me mathematically, but with a 51p Octopus Go Standing rate vs 34p for BG, it seems to close to call overall. BG night rate is about 14p, so double Octopus Go but everything else seems very close. even though I would gain £50 credit due to a sign up link, I also need to factor in the exit fee from BG. I'll probably stick unless I get any further lightbulb moments!

pochase

Without you giving us information about the tariffs, what you have used the last 12 months and what you expect to use to charge your EV nobody will be able to give you any advise.

There is a huge difference depending on your use of the car. Are you driving 50 miles per month or 5000 for example?

gandalftheking

pochase said:

Without you giving us information about the tariffs, what you have used the last 12 months and what you expect to use to charge your EV nobody will be able to give you any advise.

There is a huge difference depending on your use of the car. Are you driving 50 miles per month or 5000 for example?

Yes I understand. Driving habits would be 100 miles a week maybe on an average month. My annual mileage historically has been around 3-4k, so nothing really

pochase

gandalftheking said:

pochase said:

Without you giving us information about the tariffs, what you have used the last 12 months and what you expect to use to charge your EV nobody will be able to give you any advise.

There is a huge difference depending on your use of the car. Are you driving 50 miles per month or 5000 for example?

Yes I understand. Driving habits would be 100 miles a week maybe on an average month. My annual mileage historically has been around 3-4k, so nothing really

100 miles per week will be around 25 to 30KWh depending on weather and your driving style. So you are looking at 1250 to 1500KWh per year.

For 1250KWh your cost is 
Octopus - £93.75 (7.5p)
BG E7 -  £175 (14p)
SVT day - 350 (28p)
day rate from your fix = ???p 

It now depends how much electricity you use in total and if you are able to move some of it to the night (e.g. washing machine, dishwasher etc).

It sounds like you are already on a E7 tariff with a fixed rate with BG? I seriously doubt that it will make sense to lose the fixed rate to save a £82 for charging your car, while you have a much day rate and you are save from the next increase in October. The 82£ would be almost offset already by your exit fee not considering anything else.

gandalftheking

pochase said:

gandalftheking said:

pochase said:

Without you giving us information about the tariffs, what you have used the last 12 months and what you expect to use to charge your EV nobody will be able to give you any advise.

There is a huge difference depending on your use of the car. Are you driving 50 miles per month or 5000 for example?

Yes I understand. Driving habits would be 100 miles a week maybe on an average month. My annual mileage historically has been around 3-4k, so nothing really

100 miles per week will be around 25 to 30KWh depending on weather and your driving style. So you are looking at 1250 to 1500KWh per year.

For 1250KWh your cost is 
Octopus - £93.75 (7.5p)
BG E7 -  £175 (14p)
SVT day - 350 (28p)
day rate from your fix = ???p 

It now depends how much electricity you use in total and if you are able to move some of it to the night (e.g. washing machine, dishwasher etc).

It sounds like you are already on a E7 tariff with a fixed rate with BG? I seriously doubt that it will make sense to lose the fixed rate to save a £82 for charging your car, while you have a much day rate and you are save from the next increase in October. The 82£ would be almost offset already by your exit fee not considering anything else.

That is a blo*dy brilliant reply! Thanks my friend (I have a link to get £50 credit from Octopus, but still think I'll wait until the fixed tariff with BG expires, then decide)