Home Charging Methods & Tariffs in the UK

[Edwos]

So, using ‘just’ the cheap electricity from Octopus, and not their app… Is this possible on both the GO and also the INTELLIGENT product offers from the supplier?

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[bn8959]

Yes, but you do need to do at least one ‘Intelligent’ charge on Octopus Intelligent (and of course you need a compatible EV or EV charger), so would need setting up at least for a bit. Go just needs any EV.

 

[cbst]

I plan to move to OI once I get my GTS ST in September (hopefully!) and plan to use Zappi for scheduling and PV integration. I believe I can still get OI due to it supporting the car directly.

I am in this situation, Taycan and Zappi charger but cannot get Octopus Intelligent as it supports neither. OI needs a compatible car or charger so I am on Octopus Go instead.

I use a home profile on the car set to 80% and run the Zappi in ECO+ mode so it only works on off-peak or solar energy if you have it. I then have a schedule in the zappi app for 4 hours charging from 0030 to 0430 to benefit from the 9.5p/kWh rate overnight. So plug the car in and overnight it will charge for 4 hours cheaply or go up to 80% and then stop. Works ok for my usage but 6 hours of intelligent would be better.

 

[bn8959]

Porsche is on the list as a supported car:
Intelligent Octopus EV Tariff FAQs | Octopus Energy

 

[cbst]

Porsche is on the list as a supported car:
Intelligent Octopus EV Tariff FAQs | Octopus Energy

I feel so stupid, thanks
I saw the Porsche logo on the website a few weeks ago but it wouldn't accept me so I emailed Octopus and they said it wasn't compatible and had no eta. I just went through the process again and I'm now on Intelligent. Did the test charge and it all worked great, just need to work out how best to run it now. I presume leave the home profile on 80%, plug it in and do nothing and let everything happen automatically?

 

[D00]

A long story, but hopefully sharing my experience will be useful to others buying their first EV and looking at home charging methods and tariffs. All of this was new to me. Please let me know if you found a better option.

Background

I recently replaced my 911 C4S with a Taycan 4S. I’d wanted a 911 since I had one on my bedroom wall as a kid. The 911 gave me memories of some great drives, but was spending more time cosseted in the garage, being used only as a treat. I wanted something more usable. If I could afford a different car for every day of the week, one of those would definitely be a naturally aspirated 911. Almost nothing beats being connected to a 911.

Home Charging Methods & Tariffs in the UK

I soon realised that while faster, public charging costs are up to 10x those of the cheapest home rate. Just to be safe, I had acquired around 8 new charge point apps and RFID cards before my first long trip in the Taycan.

After comparing the EV and day rates, and installation requirements of Octopus, EDF, British Gas and OVO, I plumped for OVO Charge Anytime. At 10p, their EV rate isn’t the cheapest, but, swings and roundabouts, most day rates are higher than OVO’s 30p - which matches the cheapest public charge rate I had found (other than secret free ones). And for some EVs, including Taycan, the OVO physical installation requirements are zero.

The cheapest EV rate is provided by Octopus Intelligence - 7.5p for a narrow 6hr overnight period. But their day rate is 40p, compared to OVO’s 30p. Also, Octopus seem to have a one size fits all charger installation requirement,where they want to run additional electric and data cables from your smart meter to one of their specific compatible chargers. I already had a 40 amp supply to my separate garage and didn’t fancy digging up the drive to lay more cables. Also, the Taycan came with the dumb Porsche Mobile Connect Charger, so I didn’t want/need to buy another charger.

The cheapest Octopus rate of 7.5p isn’t yet available to Taycan drivers, so meanwhile they’ll sell you their ‘Go’ product, with a 9.5p EV rate and a 40p day rate. British Gas wanted to fit a British Gas specific Smart Meter, despite SMETS2 meters allegedly being compatible with all suppliers.

OVO Charge Anytime (10p EV rate, 30p standard ) is a fairly new product. Unlike the others, it relies on an app and integration with a compatible Car rather than with a ‘smart’ charger. If your car isn’t compatible, a specific smart charger is required. Fortunately the Taycan is compatible - although in seeking verbal confirmation of this, their Customer Service team initially said it may not be and essentially, I had to suck it and see. I had to escalate to get the web site info confirmed before switching from EON to OVO. EON will sell you and install a charger, but don’t yet have a reduced tariff for EVs(!).

I didn’t yet have a smart meter, having resisted to avoid the possibility of supplier tie in. To avoid wait times, forums recommended getting your existing supplier rather than one with a specific EV tariff to install a smart meter before switching. The lead time for EON to install a smart meter was only 2 weeks rather than the months that other providers with in demand EV tariffs can take.

EON’s smart meter installation was smooth and despite our rural location, connectivity was instant.

Once the smart meter was installed, I switched from EON to OVO, having first paid off the outstanding EON balance to avoid any snags there. The switch to OVO was completed within 2 days and was trouble free.

The day following the switch, I downloaded and installed the OVO Charge Anytime app. This integrates with your OVO Account, your Porsche Connect/My Porsche account and another OVO/SSE system called Kaluza.

In the OVO Charge Anytime app you schedule your required charge percentage and completion time. Any profiles/timers on your Taycan will override those you instruct in the app. As the product name implies, charging can occur Anytime and isn’t necessarily restricted to a narrow overnight window. The Kaluza system will talk to your car to complete your charging instruction and arrange charging according to supplier capacity - which may not just be overnight. E.g. if you plug in at 6pm with target completion of 9am it can spread the charge across that period, at the reduced rate. If you want to override your schedule, you can set the app to start an ad-hoc urgent charge, at the 30p rather than 10p rate.

I definitely wasn’t expecting an integration across multiple systems and the car to work first time, but it just did.

I’ve not yet seen my first monthly bill with charging credit applied (the back office OVO and Kaluza systems log your EV charging hours and deduct 20p from the standard 30p unit cost). But for me this proved that with a simple 32 amp supply to a commando socket, you can use a dumb charger to charge a Taycan at 10p per unit, while still having a standard day rate, and avoiding tie in to suppliers and their specific and expensive smart chargers and installation costs. The market is young and evolving, todays ‘smart’ chargers will be overtaken.

In my case I’m using the dumb but very expensive Porsche charger, others are available for a few hundred pounds. Similarly you can get a lead to extend the Porsche one way cheaper than the £700 they charge.

Even if you can only charge with a 13amp plug, the OVO tariff may still be worthwhile.

Update - Now that Octopus supports the Taycan regardless of your charger, and their standard rate has been reduced closer to the OVO one, I have just switched to Octopus Intelligent, 7.5p rather than 10p per unit, albeit only from 23:30 - 05:30. The Octopus website still requires you to input a compatible charger but their app allows you to say you‘re using a 13a/32a socket.

 

[Edwos]

Update - Now that Octopus supports the Taycan regardless of your charger, and their standard rate has been reduced closer to the OVO one, I have just switched to Octopus Intelligent, 7.5p rather than 10p per unit, albeit only from 23:30 - 05:30. The Octopus website still requires you to input a compatible charger but their app allows you to say you‘re using a 13a/32a socket.

Hi, I took delivery this week of my 4S ST (and it was certainly worth the wait!!! My first delve into the world of EV and I'm not disappointed).

I am currently using Octopus GO but want to swap to Octopus INTELLIGENT to benefit for the super cheap night rate. However, when I apply online for the swap, I receive the following message.

‘‘Intelligent Octopus isn’t ready for you yet, but it just got one step closer.
You do not have a car or charger that is ready for Intelligent octopus yet’’

I am a bit confused as I can see that many here on the forum have moved to INTELLIGENT without issue. Am I missing the point or doing something wrong? If it makes any difference, I have a Hypervolt installed to provide the juice.

Thanks!
Ed

 

[BigBob]

No smart meter dependency.

Re Ovo:

But you need a smart meter to use the service..... I'm waiting for one to be installed....

 

[Edwos]

Sorry, I should have said, I already have a 'S2' smart meter installed... (by my previous supplier, Shell Energy). Is this the root of the issue then, that I need an Octopus compliant type smart meter? Therefore the one set up by Shell isn't suitable?

 

[W1NGE]

Re Ovo:

But you need a smart meter to use the service..... I'm waiting for one to be installed....

Ii had one prior so perhaps that's it as I wasn't asked at sign-up

 

[BigBob]

Ii had one prior so perhaps that's it as I wasn't asked at sign-up

Yep. Still doesn't make a lot of sense why you need one given how it seems to work. But they are a truly dreadful customer experience, so i'm not going to ask!

 

[D00]

Sorry, I should have said, I already have a 'S2' smart meter installed... (by my previous supplier, Shell Energy). Is this the root of the issue then, that I need an Octopus compliant type smart meter? Therefore the one set up by Shell isn't suitable?

You need any SMETS2 smart meter, so you’re ok there.
The Octopus Intelligent website eligibility checker doesn’t yet cope with Taycan. Since June, all Taycans are eligible regardless of charger make and model. Once you’ve switched you can add and set up the Intelligent tariff using the Octopus app.
The support info on the website isn’t the best/up to date.
If switching supplier, pay off any debt to your current supplier first. All being well you can switch in only 3 days.
I checked compatibility by emailing [email protected] with meter type, car make, model, variant; and although this is irrelevant, charger make and model.

Customer support is patchy at best - both OVO and Octopus. Be prepared to use the member experiences here to challenge/corroborate any suspect replies.

 

[D00]

Yep. Still doesn't make a lot of sense why you need one given how it seems to work. But they are a truly dreadful customer experience, so i'm not going to ask!

I understand that a SMETS2 meter is needed for 30 minute billing.
if your current supplier isn’t EV friendly, their SMETS2 install queue will probably be shorter than an EV friendly supplier. Best to get your current supplier to upgrade your meter before switching. And ask for 30 minute billing.

 

[BigBob]

I understand that a SMETS2 meter is needed for 30 minute billing.
if your current supplier isn’t EV friendly, their SMETS2 install queue will probably be shorter than an EV friendly supplier. Best to get your current supplier to upgrade your meter before switching. And ask for 30 minute billing.

I’ve never had one, so Ovo putting their version in. Assuming they turn up - giving it 50/50.

 

[Xsquid]

Porsche is on the list as a supported car:
Intelligent Octopus EV Tariff FAQs | Octopus Energy

The trouble with Intelligent Octopus is that you can only use it to charge a car whereas Octopus Go you can use it for anything as long as you have an EV ie Solar Battery system or any appliance.

I have just moved from Octopus Go to British Gas - same rates and slightly cheaper standing charge but fixed until the end of Sept 2024 (so no price hike this winter) and 5 hours at the lower rate (0000 - 0500) as opposed to Octopus Go's 4 hours.

BG Electric Driver Sep 24 if anyone is interested and no early cancellation charges.

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