Home Charging Methods & Tariffs in the UK

[bn8959]

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.

But with IO you get 6 hours overnight at 7.5p plus the lower rates during a scheduled charge - which applies to all consumption during that time. So, I’d say it’s ideal if you have battery storage. Better than Go and ECO7. Also a lot better than OVO, as that only gives you the low rate for the amount of juice you put in to the car - your rate on your meter stays high and they read back the amount added to your car via an API.

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[D00]

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.

@Edwos
How are you getting on with Octopus Intelligent?
4 nights in for me. Octopus been unable to complete any charge as per the App parameter. I’ve had to bump charge and I’m awaiting confirmation that they will adjust billing.
What has not helped is that OVO were also attempting to control charging. Apparently switching supplier isn’t enough to stop that and you have to delete your Charge Anytime account. And then that did not work without support intervention. Neither OVO or Octopus advised me that the OVO Charge Anytime account needed to be deleted.
Octopus have not answered my calls or emails all week. I’ve had to escalate to issue resolution, delete my car (device) and take over control of charging.
It seems that neither OVO or Octopus understand how the Porsche Profile operates and think the charging % setting there is a maximum rather than an initial minimum.

 

[rb33gl]

I use Octopus Intelligent. You need to make sure Octopus sizes the right battery for your car when you sign up. They set mine at the smaller battery, and I found it was under charging what I set in the App. Got onto Ocopus and they changed it to the PB+. Working fine now.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

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.

This is not correct. I am on IO and use it to charge 2 cars overnight, my solar battery if needed, run my washing machine, dishwasher etc during the 6 hour overnight period. Works fine. I don’t have gas so that bit is not a factor for me

 

[Xsquid]

This is not correct. I am on IO and use it to charge 2 cars overnight, my solar battery if needed, run my washing machine, dishwasher etc during the 6 hour overnight period. Works fine. I don’t have gas so that bit is not a factor for me

My understanding, and please correct me, is that with IO you have to be charging the car at the same time because the cheaper charging is somehow tied in and connects to the car or certain chargers. I do not have to charge my car every day or every other day so the extra hour with BG c/f Octopus Go helps me. At the end of the day it it depends on your individual needs.
I think I was just surprised that BG had a competitive tariff.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

My understanding, and please correct me, is that with IO you have to be charging the car at the same time because the cheaper charging is somehow tied in and connects to the car or certain chargers. I do not have to charge my car every day or every other day so the extra hour with BG c/f Octopus Go helps me. At the end of the day it it depends on your individual needs.
I think I was just surprised that BG had a competitive tariff.

You just get cheap electricity for 6 hours every night and can use what you like. There is no need to be charging a car to get the cheaper rate

 

[MrB]

You just get cheap electricity for 6 hours every night and can use what you like. There is no need to be charging a car to get the cheaper rate

Absolutely my experience too. It’s great. 6hrs of guaranteed cheap electricity between 2330-0530 (dishwashers etc on timers) and whenever Ohme schedule the charge for either of our cars. Mine’s outside happily charging right now so the tumble dryer’s just gone on!

 

[D00]

I use Octopus Intelligent. You need to make sure Octopus sizes the right battery for your car when you sign up. They set mine at the smaller battery, and I found it was under charging what I set in the App. Got onto Ocopus and they changed it to the PB+. Working fine now.

Mine has the smaller battery but OI is still undercharging. On Friday morning’s charge they set a completion timer for Sunday morning and undercharged. Until OI provide a resolution Porsche have ‘taken back control’.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

Absolutely my experience too. It’s great. 6hrs of guaranteed cheap electricity between 2330-0530 (dishwashers etc on timers) and whenever Ohme schedule the charge for either of our cars. Mine’s outside happily charging right now so the tumble dryer’s just gone on!

You get cheap electricity at other times as well if the car is charging? I wasn’t aware if that. Maybe only with the Ohme charger

 

[MrB]

You get cheap electricity at other times as well if the car is charging? I wasn’t aware if that. Maybe only with the Ohme charger

You may well be right! I fear I may have just presumed it was the case that if it was charging outside of the 2330-0530 window that all usage would be billed at the lower rate. I’ve actually no idea if true or not! I’ll have to make a note of today and check the bill when it arrives to see how it’s apportioned.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

You may well be right! I fear I may have just presumed it was the case that if it was charging outside of the 2330-0530 window that all usage would be billed at the lower rate. I’ve actually no idea if true or not! I’ll have to make a note of today and check the bill when it arrives to see how it’s apportioned.

I am pretty sure that other house usage outside of the overnight window is charged at the full price… but do report back. Maybe go easy on the tumble dryer until you are sure!

 

[bn8959]

It is definitely the case - you get 6 hours at the low rate (Go you get only 4h). You’ll notice it’s always in 30 minute windows, as that is the rate smart meters take readings. You also get the low rate additionally on a scheduled Intelligent charge. They don’t separate EV use from house use. OVO are the only company I’m aware of that do this, and it’s a pretty rudimentary way by reading back the charge added to the car and giving you a credit back to reduce the cost specifically of those kWh sent to the car.

 

[D00]

You may well be right! I fear I may have just presumed it was the case that if it was charging outside of the 2330-0530 window that all usage would be billed at the lower rate. I’ve actually no idea if true or not! I’ll have to make a note of today and check the bill when it arrives to see how it’s apportioned.

My understanding is that all use within the period 23:30 - 05:30 is at the cheap rate, but only ‘smart’ (intelligent) car charging outside that period is at the cheap rate. Early Friday evening I noticed my car charging, contrary to the Octopus timer setting. One week in, I don’t have much faith in their ability to bill at the right amounts and charge according to the app parameters so I have deleted the device and will control my own charging until they resolve my issues.

 

[kurand]

With OVO charging a Taycan using a dumb EVSE, it’s actually KWh stored into the battery (difference between KWh at the end and start of the session as reported by the Porsche API) rather than the energy sent to the car. This means that cable, EVSE and charger losses are all charged at the full rate. This is often around 10-15% of the total energy supplied.

OVO also require a SMETS2 meter set to 1/2 reporting, but don’t actually appear to be using this data for much. They may just be using it to determine that the car is likely plugged into the home charger. Or maybe they just use GPS coordinates for that.

 

[D00]

My understanding is that all use within the period 23:30 - 05:30 is at the cheap rate, but only ‘smart’ (intelligent) car charging outside that period is at the cheap rate. Early Friday evening I noticed my car charging, contrary to the Octopus timer setting. One week in, I don’t have much faith in their ability to bill at the right amounts and charge according to the app parameters so I have deleted the device and will control my own charging until they resolve my issues.

Also discussed here - https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...r-intelligent-tariff.16074/page-6#post-260032

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