A sensible way to charge from home.

[old fisherman]

Saw this youtube video. A must watch if you use Octopus Energy, or even if you don't.

Watch here :-

Lots of common sense, using real facts and real numbers (now there's a novelty)

 

[JohnV6]

What a great video

 

[Joningy]

Saw this youtube video. A must watch if you use Octopus Energy, or even if you don't.

Watch here :-

Lots of common sense, using real facts and real numbers (now there's a novelty)

That's exactly the way I saw it anyway, it won't affect those of us who charge between 23.30 and 05.30, 6 hour window.

The new ruling is to stop the clover clogs who are taking advantage of the cheap slots, of which I've seen very few where we live.
Guess if you've got a much larger battery and regularly commute long distances it's been a legit way to get charged cheaply.
That is what Octopus is cutting out.

To the normal Jo Bloggs it won't make a difference, but the higher mileage drivers will be most affected.

 

[Rolfe]

My only issue is that if I want to do a <10% to 100% calibration charge I'm going to have to pay for some peak-time electricity. That's not going to happen very often though. (I did one last night, as I came home on 8%, so that's me sorted for a few months anyway.)

From Octopus's point of view, I wonder if this is going to be counter-productive. What incentive is there for anyone to allow a charge to happen outside the normal cheap period? It's confusing, and for some people it's liable to drain their home batteries. My inclination is just to charge 11.30 to 5.30 using my Zappi's own timer, and now and again ask for a small amount as a Smart charge, starting at 11.30 and asking for the car to be ready by 5.30, to keep within Octopus's T&Cs. There's literally no benefit to using the Smart charge.

 

[JohnV6]

As I understand it you have a 6 hr charge window. If IGO charges your car from noon till 6 pm you still get 6 hrs at 7p from 23:30 till 05:30 only not for charging the car just for the house

 

[Rolfe]

What benefit is that to the customer?

 

[siteguru]

I suspect the comment is worded poorly ... I think @JohnV6 means that any power delivered to the property for charging the car will also mean any power used by the rest of the house will also be at the 7p rate.

 

[Rolfe]

I'm not sure that's the case, though.

 

[siteguru]

On re-reading, I think you're right (that this was not what he was saying). I now think he was saying that IF the car charged (to the target level) outside of the fixed 7p hours (presumably still at 7p per kWh) then the fixed hours would only supply house loads (at 7p per kWh). If you time-shift heavy loads to those hours then it's still beneficial.

I assume you could also charge another EV (if you had another) during those hours, just not using any smart scheduling.

So, all-in-all, still a benefit to the consumer.

 

[Rolfe]

I don't think you're right. I think you only get six hours of EV charging every 24 hours, however you arrange it and however many EVs you have. I also don't think you get cheap house electricity when the EV is charging outwith the cheap period.

 

[Kenp1]

I don't think you're right. I think you only get six hours of EV charging every 24 hours, however you arrange it and however many EVs you have. I also don't think you get cheap house electricity when the EV is charging outwith the cheap period.

Yes it does, you could end up with over 6 hours of cheap electric for the house. You always get 23:30 to 05:30 for the house plus any periods outside those times when the car is charging.

 

[Rolfe]

Is that still going to be the case when the system changes though? I'm not sure.

Also, since you have no idea at all when the car is going to charge, or how long for, I see this extra cheap-rate time as problematic and difficult to utilise.

 

[GaryMG4]

Also, since you have no idea at all when the car is going to charge, or how long for, I see this extra cheap-rate time as problematic and difficult to utilise.

I suspect that's the intention. Last night I requested 50% by 8am, the initial schedule was a single block 00:30-6:00 but at 18:00 it did a half hour, then another at 20:30, a short blip around 00:30 then 3 more blocks. I had 2 unable to control your device messages around midnight and 4:30 and I woke up to the car waiting for surplus having added 35kWh overnight.

 

[Rolfe]

I don't think it's a bad deal at all and I can work with it perfectly well. Even the fact that the car drains the home battery can be put to good use in a long calibration charge, letting the car have an hour of peak-rate plus home battery either side of the cheap period is cheaper than solely utilising mains power for the extra.

I will charge 11.30 till 5.30 using the Zappi schedule, and occasionally ask for a relatively small Smart charge starting at 11.30 and "ready by" 5.30, and that will suit me fine. It's what I have been doing anyway. The only thing that's affected is the long calibration charges and that's not a big deal.

So long as they don't start insisting that people must use Smart charging for everything, and/or insist that we must allow them to charge the car at random times outwith the cheap period, we're all good.

 

[Roger001]

Octopus' statement is here

Upcoming changes to Intelligent Octopus Go

The key parts are

• Intelligent Octopus Go customers will continue to receive 6 hours of off-peak electricity for your whole home between 11:30pm and 5:30am. Guaranteed, reliable, schedule-friendly off-peak savings.
• Plus up to 6 hours of super-cheap smart charging every 24 hours – these may be during your home’s off-peak hours (11:30pm-5:30am), outside those times, or a mix of both.
• Whenever the 6 hours smart charging is scheduled outside your off-peak window, the electricity for your whole home will also be at the discounted rates
• If we need to schedule more than 6 hours to reach your target charge, only the first 6 hours of charging will be at the discounted rate – extra half-hours will be charged at your Bump rate (even if they’re scheduled during the off-peak window).

I'm sure the terms will change again in the future as anyone with a large battery and some automation software will be able to game the system, but such users are going to be few and far between at the moment.