BG or Octopus EV tariff

[bobbarley]

Just trying to gauge which people are using

 

[SteveBirchall]

Octopus intelligent go is hard to beat at 7.5p per kWh especially since you get that rate in your house too 11:30 to 5:30 am every day. Plus you can plug in your car anytime and they decide when electricity is cheaper and only charge you the 7.5p still.
I can get 200 miles for £3.75.

 

[Jomarkh]

If you have one of the EVSE that can be used with IOG then 7.5p/kWh is a great great forca minimum of 6 hours. I do 65-70 miles a day and IOG works for me as I also charge my house battery. You need to do your sums.

 

[Bam Bam]

I'm on Octopus, but planning to use Intelligent Flux Outgoing until August as we had a lot of solar surplus last summer (before we got the EV). You don't get good solar payments with the EV tariffs. Will have to see how many miles we are doing in the car to decide exactly when to shift to the Autumn/Winter EV tariff.

 

[Lovemyev]

The newly released 12 month fix from e.on offering 7 hours of cheaper off peak tariff is also worth checking out.

 

[johnb80]

I'm on Octopus, but planning to use Intelligent Flux Outgoing until August as we had a lot of solar surplus last summer (before we got the EV). You don't get good solar payments with the EV tariffs. Will have to see how many miles we are doing in the car to decide exactly when to shift to the Autumn/Winter EV tariff.

Just out of interest, what figure IS a good solar payment to receive? Octopus pay 15p/kWh but you can of course export to any of the others, you're not tied to Octopus.

The newly released 12 month fix from e.on offering 7 hours of cheaper off peak tariff is also worth checking out.

It's OK but not brilliant IF you can get onto Intelligent Octopus GO by having a compatible EVSE or EV.

EON
Peak (07:00 - 00:00) 30.68p per kWh
Off-peak (00:00 - 07:00) 8p per kWh

IOG
Peak (05:30 - 23:30) 25.8p per kWh
Off-peak (23:30 - 05:30**) 7.5p per kWh
** Off peak additional hours given under Octopus control when EV is plugged in to charge.

 

[Lovemyev]

Agreed John but you need a smart compatible wall box in order to take advantage.

 

[johnb80]

Agreed John but you need a smart compatible wall box to take advantage.

Is that not what I said in my first sentence? It's actually a compatible EVSE OR EV

 

[bobbarley]

The lack of continuity in the market is very vexing. You want to use BG, you need to use their proprietary Hive tech. Octopus, then it’s Ohme or Zappi. We can only hope that it becomes better regulated and more open in the future I suppose.

 

[Bam Bam]

Just out of interest, what figure IS a good solar payment to receive? Octopus pay 15p/kWh but you can of course export to any of the others, you're not tied to Octopus.

I'm currently getting 22.2p during the day and 29.59p during the evening peak (battery export + West facing panels). You only get that amount if you a) have Octopus ingoing and outgoing, b) let Octopus control your battery.

This tariff is unusual as it is what the Americans call 'net metering' - same price in and out. so it is great as long as you generate more than 1.25x what you use. Which I expect we will with East+West arrays and low household usage (aside from the car).

These prices are currently only available to those who have a Givenergy battery and inverter. Other battery companies will be added at some unknown point in the future, if they are as good at sharing as Givenergy.

 

[johnb80]

I'm currently getting 22.2p during the day and 29.59p during the evening peak (battery export + West facing panels). You only get that amount if you a) have Octopus ingoing and outgoing, b) let Octopus control your battery.

This tariff is unusual as it is what the Americans call 'net metering' - same price in and out. so it is great as long as you generate more than 1.25x what you use. Which I expect we will with East+West arrays and low household usage (aside from the car).

These prices are currently only available to those who have a Givenergy battery and inverter. Other battery companies will be added at some unknown point in the future, if they are as good at sharing as Givenergy.

Thats interesting to hear. Octopus are certainly leading the market with energy storage etc. I managed to interface my DIY batteries into the saving sessions which earned a tidy sum and gave Octopus a decent amount of energy.

Thanks - J

The lack of continuity in the market is very vexing. You want to use BG, you need to use their proprietary Hive tech.

The big question is why on earth anyone would want to use BG and Hive who have a dreadful reputation on all fronts and not the most competitive price wise?

Octopus, then it’s Ohme or Zappi.

or wallbox or a compatible car from a huge list of EV's.

We can only hope that it becomes better regulated and more open in the future I suppose.

From Octopus's point of view it's the manufacturers giving access to API's that is restricting the market access so thank MG in your case for be excluded from Octopus.

 

[Lovemyev]

Is that not what I said in my first sentence? It's actually a compatible EVSE OR EV

Of course you did John.
I was criticising your comment, I was just making the point that some new members maybe still using one of the older "non - smart" wall box ( like myself ).
Just trying to save them a bit of time by getting excited about chasing a deal, that is not available to them and myself, thats all .

 

[bobbarley]

or wallbox or a compatible car from a huge list of EV's.

I did not know this!! Thanks for the info.

 

[johnb80]

Of course you did John.
I was criticising your comment, I was just making the point that some new members maybe still using one of the older "non - smart" wall box ( like myself ).
Just trying to save them a bit of time by getting excited about chasing a deal, that is not available to them and myself, thats all .

I did hear not so long ago that an adapter was being developed that plugged in to the type II socket and the charging lead from dumb EVSE's plugged into it. This gave the intelligent interface needed for people like yourself that are using non compatible EV / EVSE.

 

[gazza487]

Non-compatible charger so GO or BG were the choice. BG fixes the price for a year unlike GO and you get an extra hour per day vs the octopus.

Now that is not to say all is rosey, it was a nightmare to get up and going despite them being existing supplier and having one of their smart meters (unfortunately it was a smets1 that hasn’t been upgraded to 2). They don’t tell you but you but the unadopted smets1 wouldn’t work so took 3 attempts for them to get a functioning smart meter in. Their billing is pretty meh - they only bill 6 monthly by default and the usage etc on their app (the old system acct number stating with 85) doesn’t work. That aside, loving the low rate tariffs (all electric house), water heating, washer, dryer, dishwasher, car all in the low times = serious savings. Obv. lesser savings if you use gas.

 

[bobbarley]

Well we called up Octopus and told them we were leaving unless they installed a new smart meter, they’re coming next week I think we have decided to go with a Wallbox installation, seems cheaper to buy the box and have a qualified local electrician fit it, over getting some generic one fee fits all company from the interweb. I sat and did all the maths over several hours, and OIG just works out cheaper for us due to daytime electric usage (children x4, games consoles etc). We would have to do 24k driving a year to pass the point where it’s cheaper to go with BG.

 

[johnb80]

Well we called up Octopus and told them we were leaving unless they installed a new smart meter, they’re coming next week I think we have decided to go with a Wallbox installation, seems cheaper to buy the box and have a qualified local electrician fit it, over getting some generic one fee fits all company from the interweb. I sat and did all the maths over several hours, and OIG just works out cheaper for us due to daytime electric usage (children x4, games consoles etc). We would have to do 24k driving a year to pass the point where it’s cheaper to go with BG.

Just be careful with your choice wallbox if you already have or are likely to get a battery or Solar PV system, integration of EVSE isnt straight forward if the EVSE unit isnt solar friendly, at times they dont work well together.

 

[bobbarley]

Are the zappi chargers the all singing and dancing compatible with everything choice?

 

[johnb80]

Are the zappi chargers the all singing and dancing compatible with everything choice?

Zappi is the first EVSE that integrated with solar, power diverter etc. It is a premium price product though but does what it says on the tin. Ohme and Wallbox both work with OIG but with varying success when Solar PV or battery is in the mix.

 

[bobbarley]

Ahhh okay thanks for the info! I am quite keen on the idea of getting batteries installed. Our use case for electricity is high. We have 4 kids (from two marriages), 2 of them smash PlayStation all day and the other 2 are PC gamers. It’s not cheap Plus leaving lights on, and general lack of common sense around energy efficiency.