EON Next have removed Next Drive tariffs for battery only customers.

MattMattMattUK

Chrysalis said:

MWT said:

None of those offer a dependable load, they only work as long as you have somewhere to put the heat...

A half-empty EV with a 64kWh battery means they can depend on being able to deliver 30kWh+ for example.

Multiply that by a few thousand and you have a dependable, controllable energy sink. 

A EV not being depleted, parked up for weeks on end, where does the charge go?

The thing with the smart tariffs is the supplier can see exactly how much charge is in the EV so they know across the several hundred thousand they have in different regions exactly what kind of energy sink they have available. They will buy cheap energy to fill that sink as and when it is available. Now some EVs might barely go anywhere for weeks at a time and some might get driven 200+ miles every day, so across all their customers they have a substantial pot of predictable energy usage. 

I even get occasional messages from Octopus saying that if I do not plug in on X day, then I will get all my charging free then following day, they know that there will be a high overnight price one day but likely a negative price the next day so they give me that option. I can still plug in and pay my normal rate and they will deal with that, but everyone gains if they can flexibly charge the following day.

Chrysalis said:

I get the point anyway, not trying be awkwardly argumentative here, just I think there is scope for expanding the use cases. Thank you.to yourself and QrizB for explaining the extra details

There is a case for expanding the scope, which is what suppliers have been doing. It is why Octopus have smart tariffs for EVs, heat pumps, storage heaters, battery storage (trialing at the moment), as well as looking at more complete integration long term, so houses with battery, heat pump, storage heaters and EV can charge, store heat and discharge on a fully smart basis controlled by the supplier.

Qyburn

Not disputing any of the points about smart controlled charging, but several suppliers offer fixed EV tariffs that simply give cheap power at fixed times of day. In fact the actual tariff discussed here, Eon Next Drive is one of those.

MWT

Qyburn said:

Not disputing any of the points about smart controlled charging, but several suppliers offer fixed EV tariffs that simply give cheap power at fixed times of day. In fact the actual tariff discussed here, Eon Next Drive is one of those.

Indeed, and that is how Octopus started with the original 'Octopus Go' which is of course still available. 

The Intelligent tariffs give Octopus the potential to participate meaningfully in grid balancing, other suppliers may not be ready for that yet but are likely aiming in that direction.