New OVO tariff for those with electric cars

silvercar

www.ovoenergy.com/campaigns/charge-anytime

Basically gives you a partial refund of the car charging energy, when you allow the app to control the charging time.

Keep your standard OVO tariff and add on charge-anytime to reduce your app controlled car charging to 10p/KWH.

You need to have one of a long list of electric cars OR one of just two chargers. List here.

Works with 3 pin plug charging but does not work with solar panels.

MSE_Laura_F

Interesting, thanks @silvercar. I've passed this onto the wider MSE team.

MSE Laura F

Keep_pedalling

Wonder why VWs are not in there when all the other VAG EVs are? 

Hopefully that changes by the time my Octopus Go contract expires in May so I have more options.

silvercar

Reduced to 7p/ kWH from tomorrow (1/11/2023)

fraser1010

I have an electric car but as yet have not signed up to an electricity car tariff as they are very poor value.

Basically right now if I sign up to such a tariff I get 4-7 hours cheaper charging, my car by the way charges at 9% per hour. However whilst I will pay substantially less to charge my car, I pay more for electricity and also gas through put the day. I end up paying more!!!

I have used British Gas and am currently with Eon, so looked at them also in depth. My usage is 9684 watts for electricity and 32295 pa for gas.

If I use British Gas then I save £52.80 assuming I charge my car 100% each week so 80 watts. However my current usage without the car becomes £34.70pm dearer during the day compared to the standard tariff. My gas is also £26.91pm dearer compared to the standard tariff. I am therefore worse off. The same is true with Eon, I also looked at Octopus and Ovo and again the same would apply.

The energy companies want you to think you are getting a good deal, but you cant fully charge a car in one go (sometimes essential if two long trips on consecutive days), it actually suits people that need to charge say 30% a day, every day as then the savings work. Of course manufacturers say let the battery run down to 20% and dont charge to over 80% unless you have to so again it doesnt really work.

There can be circumstances where it works, I know that, but it is far too confusing and complex and someone should do something.

As an aside electricity companies need to produce a certain amount of power at all times, but at night it is often wasted and as it cant be stored it is "fired" into the ground to dissipate. Therefore having users at night is clear profit, so not only are they not doing us a favour, night time users bolster their profits.

Fraser 

bristolleedsfan

fraser1010 said:

I have an electric car but as yet have not signed up to an electricity car tariff as they are very poor value.

Basically right now if I sign up to such a tariff I get 4-7 hours cheaper charging, my car by the way charges at 9% per hour. However whilst I will pay substantially less to charge my car, I pay more for electricity and also gas through put the day. I end up paying more!!!

I have used British Gas and am currently with Eon, so looked at them also in depth. My usage is 9684 watts for electricity and 32295 pa for gas.

If I use British Gas then I save £52.80 assuming I charge my car 100% each week so 80 watts. However my current usage without the car becomes £34.70pm dearer during the day compared to the standard tariff. My gas is also £26.91pm dearer compared to the standard tariff. I am therefore worse off. The same is true with Eon, I also looked at Octopus and Ovo and again the same would apply.

The energy companies want you to think you are getting a good deal, but you cant fully charge a car in one go (sometimes essential if two long trips on consecutive days), it actually suits people that need to charge say 30% a day, every day as then the savings work. Of course manufacturers say let the battery run down to 20% and dont charge to over 80% unless you have to so again it doesnt really work.

There can be circumstances where it works, I know that, but it is far too confusing and complex and someone should do something.

As an aside electricity companies need to produce a certain amount of power at all times, but at night it is often wasted and as it cant be stored it is "fired" into the ground to dissipate. Therefore having users at night is clear profit, so not only are they not doing us a favour, night time users bolster their profits.

Fraser 

British Gas, Octopus allow household usage during cheaper charging hours at cheaper charging rate.

I read elsewhere yesterday that someone on OVO anytime car charging can be on SVR tariff for non car charging usage.

QrizB

fraser1010 said:

As an aside electricity companies need to produce a certain amount of power at all times, but at night it is often wasted and as it cant be stored it is "fired" into the ground to dissipate.

I've heard some strange suggestions in my time but that's a new one on me.

Petriix

Obviously everyone's circumstances are unique so it's important to look at the overall picture rather than assuming you (or anyone else) will experience lower (or indeed higher) total costs on any particular tariff. @fraser1010 your electricity usage is very high - approximately three times the average - so your calculations will be far from typical but I think you're basing your assumptions on poor research.

In the case of Octopus, you pay a premium of ~ 3p per kWh per peak unit in order to save 18-20p per kWh per off-peak unit. Simple maths dictates that you only have to use at worst ~15% off-peak to break even vs the standard variable rate. In my case I use closer to 50% off-peak so the saving is significant. Simply running the washing machine, dishwasher and dryer overnight helps me to save more.

Your own circumstances will be unique and, if you have such high (unavoidable) peak usage that you can't shift 15% of the total to overnight, then Octopus Go isn't for you. There are other options to consider and, in almost every case, a tariff offering cheaper EV charging will save you money vs the standard variable rate.

With such high usage you would likely benefit from considering solar panels and a more efficient heating/hot water system. 

silvercar

fraser1010 said:

I have an electric car but as yet have not signed up to an electricity car tariff as they are very poor value.

Basically right now if I sign up to such a tariff I get 4-7 hours cheaper charging, my car by the way charges at 9% per hour. However whilst I will pay substantially less to charge my car, I pay more for electricity and also gas through put the day. I end up paying more!!!

I have used British Gas and am currently with Eon, so looked at them also in depth. My usage is 9684 watts for electricity and 32295 pa for gas.

If I use British Gas then I save £52.80 assuming I charge my car 100% each week so 80 watts. However my current usage without the car becomes £34.70pm dearer during the day compared to the standard tariff. My gas is also £26.91pm dearer compared to the standard tariff. I am therefore worse off. The same is true with Eon, I also looked at Octopus and Ovo and again the same would apply.

The energy companies want you to think you are getting a good deal, but you cant fully charge a car in one go (sometimes essential if two long trips on consecutive days), it actually suits people that need to charge say 30% a day, every day as then the savings work. Of course manufacturers say let the battery run down to 20% and dont charge to over 80% unless you have to so again it doesnt really work.

There can be circumstances where it works, I know that, but it is far too confusing and complex and someone should do something.

As an aside electricity companies need to produce a certain amount of power at all times, but at night it is often wasted and as it cant be stored it is "fired" into the ground to dissipate. Therefore having users at night is clear profit, so not only are they not doing us a favour, night time users bolster their profits.

Fraser 

Ovo charge anytime charges your car (only) at the rate of 7p/ KWH, without changing the general rates. I’m on th price cap rate with OvO plus have the benefit of the cheaper car charging.

Gerry1

fraser1010 said:

My usage is 9684 watts for electricity and 32295 pa for gas.

You need to understand the relevant units otherwise your calculations may go seriously and expensively wrong.

Presumably you meant to say 'My usage is 9684kWh for electricity and 32295kWh p.a. for gas'?

If so, those figures are both very high: electricity more than three times the average, gas nearly three times.

If you'd driven your EV 8000 miles at 3m/kWh, your in-home electricity usage of 7017kWh would still be more than two and a half times the average.