Is it worth changing to EV tariff?

enginestar

I've just got bought a Tesla.
I wanted to know if it was worth changing to an EV tariff.
I assumed it would be obvious - definitely NOT.
I called Octopus and asked if it was worth switching - they said 'it depends'.
We need to switch our habits to using electricity overnight.

We only have washing machine and dishwasher that could be set to overnight usage.
5 bed house.

We're currently with EDF.
27p per KW on variable rate - 24 hours.

They're 'special' EV rate is: 38 per KW peak times, and 8p per KW 1am - 6am.
Octopus is similar in rates as far as I can see.

The Tesla I got is a standard model - range of 254 miles. It's 3 years old - so guessing won't get this full range. We do 200 miles a week on average. I've set the charging to go to 80% max - after seeing a youtube video. So guessing I need to charge once every 5 days?

Hoping someone can shed light on this 'complex' matter. (Should be a simple matter!)

Thanks.

la531983

How is your house heated? How is the water in your house heated?

Netexporter

Have you got a smart meter? You won't be able to move to any TOU tariff without one.

FWIW the Dave Takes it On bloke, on Youtube, used the EDF tariff for his Tesla, because it suits his lifestyle. Different tariffs suit different people, depending on the length and timing of cheap rates.

Reed_Richards

Do you know how many miles you get to the kWh?  With my EV it would be 4 miles per kWh if you believe the range given by the manufacturer.  Suppose you get 4 miles to the kWh then 200 miles a week will be 50 kWh per week.  If a kWh costs you 27p then your weekly "fuel" cost would be £13.50.  How much electricity did you consume on average per week before you got your EV (actual usage not including the standing charge)?  If you know that number then you can start to compare costs.        

QrizB

enginestar said:

Hoping someone can shed light on this 'complex' matter. (Should be a simple matter!)

Just looking at Octopus in my region, and assuming the default is a single-rate electricity tariff:

• Flexible Octopus: 27.51p/kWh, 47.95p/day.
• Octopus Go: 4 hrs at 9p/kWh, 20 hours at 30.60p/kWh, 47.95p/day.
• Intelligent Octopus Go: 6 hrs at 7.5p/kWh, 18 hrs at 30.60p/kWh, 47.95p/day.

Note that the daily standing charges are the same for all three options.

enginestar said:

The Tesla I got is a standard model - range of 254 miles. It's 3 years old - so guessing won't get this full range. We do 200 miles a week on average.

So 50-60kWh/week for EV charging Say 2800kWh/yr.

Assuming that you also use the "average" 2900kWh/yr for everything else, you're looking at:

• £1568 + SC per year for Flexible Octopus
• £1139 + SC for Octopus Go
• £1097 + SC for Intelligent Octopus Go.
  

In pracice, the EV tariffs will be a bit cheaper than that as you'll get some of your regular household electricity at the cheaper EV rate.

Keep_pedalling

Even with that low mileage you will be better off with one of the Octopus EV tariffs unless you use electric heating. With a Tesla you can go with intelligent Octopus provided you have a smart meter.

MeteredOut

Keep_pedalling said:

Even with that low mileage you will be better off with one of the Octopus EV tariffs unless you use electric heating. With a Tesla you can go with intelligent Octopus provided you have a smart meter.

I think that's a dangerous to state without knowing the OPs m/kWh, which changes based on weather conditions (cold weather can reduce battery performance fairly significantly), how they drive the car (heavy footed/use of regen breaking), what in-car gadgets they use (aircon/heating/heated seats/steering wheel) etc

A manufacturer range of 4 m/kWh can easily be nearer 3 m/kWh in real life. I'd recommend the OP spend a few weeks measuring their own usage and doing the calcs based on that before jumping to tariff that could cost them more overall. Also consider what other usage will realistically be time-shifted to the cheap rate.

born_again

Tesla should manage 4kWh per mile

I have e- niro which is running @ 4kWh a mile easily

Pre EV on Variable Octopus

2nd Aug 2023 16497.8 Opening reading

2nd Sep 2023 16695.3 Smart meter reading

Energy Used 197.5 kWh @ 27.87p/kWh £55.03

Standing Charge 31 days @ 51.39p/day £15.93

Subtotal of charges before VAT £70.96

Post EV on Intelligent Octopus
Rate Consumption Cost

7.14p/kWh 220.3 kWh £15.736

28.15p/kWh 123.3 kWh £34.698

Total consumption 343.6kWh @ 14.68p/kWh (average price) £50.43

Standing Charge 25 days @ 51.39p/day £12.85

Subtotal of charges before VAT £63.28

OK 5 days less.
But the joy of IO is that it will charge car at cheap rate in daytime when surplus capacity. Of which ALL of the 7.5p in post EV was. It also includes house usage in these periods as well. So shove washing etc in, in these periods rather than waiting.

Keep_pedalling

MeteredOut said:

Keep_pedalling said:

Even with that low mileage you will be better off with one of the Octopus EV tariffs unless you use electric heating. With a Tesla you can go with intelligent Octopus provided you have a smart meter.

I think that's a dangerous to state without knowing the OPs m/kWh, which changes based on weather conditions (cold weather can reduce battery performance fairly significantly), how they drive the car (heavy footed/use of regen breaking), what in-car gadgets they use (aircon/heating/heated seats/steering wheel) etc

A manufacturer range of 4 m/kWh can easily be nearer 3 m/kWh in real life. I'd recommend the OP spend a few weeks measuring their own usage and doing the calcs based on that before jumping to tariff that could cost them more overall. Also consider what other usage will realistically be time-shifted to the cheap rate.

I don’t think it was a dangerous statement even with the low mileage and getting the top 4 m/kWh it is still going to be the biggest user of electricity (assuming using electric heating) and they will be paying 7.5p pkWh to charge the car and only a couple of pence above the SVR for there daytime use.

There are also no exit charges with IO Go. 

dunstonh

I generally find the EV range given by the manufacturer is accurate for Summer but you get about 70% of that during winter.    We haven't had a cold winter since we had the car but I suspect it would be around 55% of that in a really cold spell.

Marksfish

Take your annual usage form your current supplier and see what it works out on a different rate. I was on a Eco 7 tariff, but moved to an EV one as it would save about £20pm (on my normal usage). I also calculate my charging cost every charge and make a payment to my energy bill (just as you would if buying fuel), that way the monthly payment doesn't go up.