Change from Octopus Go to Intelligent?

Nevergonnaretire

Hi,

My Octopus Go (July 2022 V1) will come to the end of its fixed term on the 9th of September with the current rate being 7.5p off peak and 40p peak. I noticed that the newer version of the tariff is now 9.5p peak so was wondering on what to do. I quite like the sound of Intelligent, as the rate is currently the same 7.5p off peak and 40.1p peak I've got now, with a slightly higher standing charge that equates to about £18 a year more. But it also says this is a flexible rate, which sounds like it means this wont be fixed for a year like Go was, is this correct?

The extra hour to load shift overnight would be handy and I like the idea that the car would charge at the greenest times regardless of whether it was in the 'off peak' time slot or not. I work from home a lot and its often sat on the drive in the morning/afternoon when its probably quite a low demand time.

Any thoughts on whether switching from Go to Intelligent is a good idea? Possibly not if its truly a flexible tariff and those rates are likely to change a lot?

Cheers!

Dolor

Under the rules, you cannot switch from one time-of-use to another. However, as you have been on Go for some months, CS may be flexible if you speak to them.

I assume that your EV or EVSE is IO compatible?

All the time-of-use tariffs are now no longer fixed. This can work in the customer’s favour as Octopus has reduced the unit cost of Go and IO in recent months.

Nevergonnaretire

Dolor said:

Under the rules, you cannot switch from one time-of-use to another. However, as you have been on Go for some months, CS may be flexible if you speak to them.

I assume that your EV or EVSE is IO compatible?

All the time-of-use tariffs are now no longer fixed. This can work in the customer’s favour as Octopus has reduced the unit cost of Go and IO in recent months.

Ah I didn't realise none of them were fixed anymore. So I'd be in pretty much the same boat with either tariff then. I asked about potentially switching via Octopus's twitter account and got a response to say I could switch just kick off the process online. They didn't suggest there was any restriction but the agents on their can be hit and miss sometimes.

Regarding compatibility, I currently have a Seat PHEV and Podpoint charger, it shows Seat as a compatible brand but not sure if the charger makes a difference. I'll have a further dig around. thanks!

EDIT - Found the compatibility checker, I'm all compatible apparently

Dolor

I may have got a switch from Go to IO wrong but, as you can see, the wording is slightly ambiguous as IO is a smart tariff . The latest FAQs say this:

1. You can switch away from our Octopus Go tariff to one of our standard tariffs any time without financial penalty, but you can’t move back to one of our smart tariffs (Agile Octopus or Octopus Go) within 30 days.

Nevergonnaretire

I tried the switch via the app as instructed, seemed happy until I got to the bit where it integrates with the car via a 3rd party then just fails with a "There's a problem at the 3rd party end" type message. Can't say I'm shocked as the SEAT car and online account software is absolutely shocking and always down, I'll give it a go another time.

Dolor

Nevergonnaretire said:

I tried the switch via the app as instructed, seemed happy until I got to the bit where it integrates with the car via a 3rd party then just fails with a "There's a problem at the 3rd party end" type message. Can't say I'm shocked as the SEAT car and online account software is absolutely shocking and always down, I'll give it a go another time.

I haven’t been brave enough to try it. That said, Flux is working well for me at the moment.

JohnPo

Dolor said:

Under the rules, you cannot switch from one time-of-use to another. However, as you have been on Go for some months, CS may be flexible if you speak to them.

I assume that your EV or EVSE is IO compatible?

All the time-of-use tariffs are now no longer fixed. This can work in the customer’s favour as Octopus has reduced the unit cost of Go and IO in recent months.

Not sure they enforce them - I switched from Agile to Intelligent on Sunday via the app. all went through within 2 to 3 hours with a  direct KIA Integration. Had to contact CS and raise a complaint as I'd charged my car in the morning with a few cheap Agile slots only to find they retrospectively applied the tariff from the midnight and my cheap Agile slots had become 'Peak Rate' slots   - All sorted with a small goodwill credit.

The_Hawk

As my fixed term was coming to an end soon, I've just switched from Octopus Go to Intelligent Octopus with no problem.

Signed up via the app last night. Email received first thing this morning to confirm I'm now on Intelligent.

MWT

There are a number of rules like this that are in place as a precaution, but rarely invoked, especially when it comes to a tariff switch at the end of a contract period.

If you start playing leap-frog between tariffs too frequently the response may be different...

Nevergonnaretire

Cheers all. I did try and the app couldn't set up the connection to Seat Connect. I'll give it another go at some point but doesn't inspire confidence!