Intelligent Octopus and 2nd hand EV

BarelySentientAI

born_again said:

Reed_Richards said:

born_again said:

You are also missing the cost of a dedicated 32Amp socket. Another couple of hundred quid. Or are you really risking charging car overnight & hoping that your home set up can cope with the load over extended periods?

This crops up again and again but I don't buy it.  My granny charger draws 2.35 kW, 10 amps.  All domestic sockets are specified for up to 13 Amps.  So casting doubt on a socket's capability to sustain a 10 Amp current is casting doubt on its ability to perform well within the level of performance that it is specified to achieve.

Wallbox buyers remorse?  

Yes sockets are rated at 13Amp, but they make no mention of how long. 

For fire protection - which is probably what is most relevant here:

14A for at least 4 hours until the temperature stops rising (at which point there's no point continuing the test any longer) up to 8 hours maximum test duration.  14A + 6A in a double socket.

It's in BS1363-2.



There are some extra tests for 13A 'EV' sockets, but that's just a sort of repeated duty cycle thing and not any extra current.

Whether an old and dirty socket can still do this, or if doing this thousands of times damages the socket at all (probably the reason for the extra 'EV' tests), is not so certain.

Reed_Richards

BarelySentientAI said:

For fire protection - which is probably what is most relevant here:

14A for at least 4 hours until the temperature stops rising (at which point there's no point continuing the test any longer) up to 8 hours maximum test duration.  14A + 6A in a double socket.

And at 13 Amps?  It's not entirely surprising that sockets are tested in an overload state for a limited time but what if they're not being overloaded?

BarelySentientAI

Reed_Richards said:

BarelySentientAI said:

For fire protection - which is probably what is most relevant here:

14A for at least 4 hours until the temperature stops rising (at which point there's no point continuing the test any longer) up to 8 hours maximum test duration.  14A + 6A in a double socket.

And at 13 Amps?  It's not entirely surprising that sockets are tested in an overload state for a limited time but what if they're not being overloaded?

Heating generally follows the square of current assuming other factors are constant.

There is no specific test for 13A though.

paulstevo

Reed_Richards said:

I'm sorry to tell you that you cannot have a 12 month fixed tariff with Octopus and also the Intelligent Octopus Go tariff.  That is unless you have two separate electricity supplies each with its own electricity meter (in which case you would pay two standing charges and must already be doing so).  You will have to choose one tariff or the other and if there is a penalty to exit the fixed tariff you will have to pay it.  I don't blame you for being confused, Octopus tariffs seem to me to be all about fancy names and you have to delve deep to find explanations.    

Think Im going to be calling Octopus today to clear this all up very confused now?
As I have maybe been advised incorrectly .

Hi Paul,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

I understand that you would like to fix your current dual fuel tariff for 12 months and still qualify for the Intelligent Tariff for your upcoming electric car.

I'm happy to inform you that you can fix your current dual fuel tariff for 12 months and still be eligible for the Intelligent Tariff for your electric car.

The Intelligent Tariff is specifically designed for electric vehicle owners and requires a charging point.

It offers 6 hours of charging at a discounted rate.

Thanks,
Thabo
Octopus Energy

paulstevo

This was on the 12th August . Tariff was activated on that day to the 12 month fixed.
I still have all the emails.

Reed_Richards

• If you’d like to protect your rates from future changes, we're offering a 12 month fixed tariff with no exit fees.

Perhaps that's what Thabo from Octopus Energy meant, although the message is not clear?  Maybe your 12 month fixed tariff has no exit fee so you can switch to Intelligent Octopus Go when you get your EV and provided you meet the quite stringent conditions for that tariff.

paulstevo

Reed_Richards said:

• If you’d like to protect your rates from future changes, we're offering a 12 month fixed tariff with no exit fees.

Perhaps that's what Thabo from Octopus Energy meant, although the message is not clear?  Maybe your 12 month fixed tariff has no exit fee so you can switch to Intelligent Octopus Go when you get your EV and provided you meet the quite stringent conditions for that tariff.

Hopefully.
Im awaiting a response from an email sent to two of the people I have been dealing with during this EV situation.
Just as another idea. I have been looking at price per Kw on the fixed tariff and it equates to 24.52p . I know the intelligent is 7p per Kw . Wondering would it work out cheaper to stay on the fixed and take the 25p per Kw to charge the EV? I do approx no more than 100m per week if that.

MattMattMattUK

paulstevo said:

Reed_Richards said:

• If you’d like to protect your rates from future changes, we're offering a 12 month fixed tariff with no exit fees.

Perhaps that's what Thabo from Octopus Energy meant, although the message is not clear?  Maybe your 12 month fixed tariff has no exit fee so you can switch to Intelligent Octopus Go when you get your EV and provided you meet the quite stringent conditions for that tariff.

Hopefully.
Im awaiting a response from an email sent to two of the people I have been dealing with during this EV situation.
Just as another idea. I have been looking at price per Kw on the fixed tariff and it equates to 24.52p . I know the intelligent is 7p per Kw . Wondering would it work out cheaper to stay on the fixed and take the 25p per Kw to charge the EV? I do approx no more than 100m per week if that.

Without knowing how much other electricity you use, how much of that you could load shift to the cheap window and how much energy you actually use whilst driving it is hard to tell.

As an example with a Tesla Model 3 or Nissan Leaf driven sensibly to do that 100 miles would mean you used around 25kWh, costing £1.75 on the EV rate, or £5.75 at 23p/kWh, a large bulky SUV EV could increase the energy used to 50kWh quite easily and with a heavy foot could push even higher, so more than double those costs. 

If you can let us know how much energy you use annually normally as well as which EV you have, we can give you a rough calculation. 

Reed_Richards

paulstevo said:

Wondering would it work out cheaper to stay on the fixed and take the 25p per Kw to charge the EV? I do approx no more than 100m per week if that.

Well in your situation any wallbox charge would be a complete waste of money.  So if you haven't already got one then I wouldn't bother.  I think you could still use Intelligent Octopus Go if your car is compatible but if not there is always (Unintelligent) Octopus Go. 

I think you should also look at Eon NextDrive.  This is fixed for one year, gives you 7 hours at 6.9p per kWh and the rest was certainly less than 25p per kWh if they haven't put their prices up.  

paulstevo

Audi E-Tron 55 Black Edition SUV 5dr Electric Auto quattro 95kWh Is the EV I will be picking up in the morning.
Just downloaded Octopus usage for last 12 months and it equates to 4026.332 from 20/08/23 to 20/08/24