EV Chargers

[TimothyN]

If you fine any, remember to check the daytime rates, you could end up paying more.

Nearly all my consumption is the night rate, because I run all the big ticket items, like the oven and office space heater, from V2L, and my white goods have timers, so I run them at night. I pay day rate for things like computers, routers and LED lighting, which take very little.

 

[Ian Key]

Like @TimothyN I run various appliances to take advantage of the cheap rate and as I don't do a lot of mileage in the car it does mean I save money compare to being on a single rate tariff although I don't go as far as using V2L.

A lot of suppliers are now only doing 5 hours of cheap electricity or you can buy an add on which means you can only charge an EV and not run anything else.

I can see suppliers in the future not offering cheap night rates as more and more EVs and home batteries start charging during that time using up all the surplus electricity.

 

[Ian Key]

So does anyone do 7 hours, because I will deffo change to them.

It doesn't look like it. Here's a list compiled by The Money Saving Expert

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/ev-energy-tariffs/

 

[TimothyN]

hmmm...

So even the reduced E.On hours are better than most...

 

[asti1488]

Handy list for comparing suppliers

 

[Chris H]

Zappi with Intelligent Octopus Go for me.
It means you can use 7p rate up till 11am and Octopus often schedule it before 11pm and still only charge 7p if you let them do the scheduling.
It's just so easy. You just go into the Octopus app, put in how much % you want to add and when you want it ready by (eg 45%, ready by 10am). You never need to use the Zappi app or MG app.

 

[JohnV6]

ditto for me with IGO & Ohme Home Pro

 

[Adamsapple]

I just got my MGS5 and also looking to get a charger installed.
Currently I'm considering waEV EV1S charger, based on cost and positive reviews on Trust pilot.
Is there anything I should be aware of before committing?

 

[Jomarkh]

I just got my MGS5 and also looking to get a charger installed.
Currently I'm considering waEV EV1S charger, based on cost and positive reviews on Trust pilot.
Is there anything I should be aware of before committing?

Hi, who is your energy supplier and what tariff are you hoping to get on?
Some EVSE (charge points) don't work with the cheapest tariffs.

 

[TimothyN]

Just as a matter of interest, how does the EVSE know how much you are paying for it's incoming electrons?

 

[dx4100]

I went for the waEV-charge EV1i and am still unsure if it was the best choice or not. I was a little overwhelmed what to go for and I was swayed because of the trust pilot reviews. I did some research I it seemed it was compatible with the car and energy tariffs. Turned out it doesn't support the likes of Intelligent Octopus Go.

The reality is I am getting a flat 17.55p per kWh on my current tariff, so moving to one of these "rip off" day / night tariffs would probably be a terrible move for me anyway. You really have to be charging the car a lot and change your habbits like washing and drying to night time before you would benefit depending on your current tariff. Most would suffer it seems to me. I would with a wife and two teenage daughters. My current deal seems a good one.

I had a few issues with the charger at first - smart charging not starting when expected - but after a lot of working with support (which is very good - whatsapp or phone - even reply on a Sunday almost instantly) it seems to have been more wifi connection being noisy and too far away from the extender. Since then I have relocated it and all the issues seem to have gone. So the take away is you are going to need a good connection going to the charger either by ethernet or wifi.

One "issue" I will get is - and potentially playing into that first issue above - if I plug in the charger and lock the car pretty quickly - it seems the car and the charger don't talk properly and charger doesn't get whatever it needs (whatever that is). Its easily worked around. Make sure car is wake, plug in the charger, it should go green, car should go blue, wait for the little click sound to say its locked in and then lock the car. Just gives everything a few seconds to detect everything. I check the ev.energy app to make sure its showing smart charging has been scheduled and its always worked since. If it is ever not saying smart charging is scheduled it means you have locked the car too quickly following plugging in.

Bit of a ramble but that's where I am one month after installation / getting the car. Overall happy. And I got it installed for around £925 after various discounts. Get a quote and don't buy straight away via the site and they will email you a discount code soon afterwards to tempt you to buy. Which you miss out on, if you buy straight away.

Oh you also get 1 point for smart charging. 30 points and you get a £5 shopping voucher. It's all solar compatible if that interests you as well.

 

[Adamsapple]

Hi, who is your energy supplier and what tariff are you hoping to get on?
Some EVSE (charge points) don't work with the cheapest tariffs.

I'm currently with EDF, just switched to their Go Electric tariff which has 9p off peak. It would cost me around £100 to move to another supplier.

 

[dx4100]

I'm currently with EDF, just switched to their Go Electric tariff which has 9p off peak. It would cost me around £100 to move to another supplier.

To get the 9p what daytime rate are they giving you ? And what was your previous rate ?

 

[Adamsapple]

To get the 9p what daytime rate are they giving you ? And what was your previous rate ?

Previous daytime was around 27p, this will be around 32p

 

[TimothyN]

e.On went from flat 24p to just shy of 27p, but I am the exception to dx4100's rule and don't consider the 6.7p night rate a rip off at all, though I do live alone, so control is much easier.

Oh! It's 10pm, I must hurry to put the washing machine on a 2 hour delay

 

[dx4100]

27p - wow
32p - really wow

My 17.55p tariff is good until June 2027 - not looking forward to it ending

I did the numbers for my supplier / area and this is where I got too (numbers are gas + electricity) ...

My Tariff £3006
Modern Tariff £3223 - if I renewed today on a standard tariff (24.55p best I can get)
Night / Day Tariff £3246 - Car only
Night / Day Tariff. £3130 - Car / Washing / Drying

So what it showed is my current tariff isn't worth messing around with and also a new tariff I would need to apply serious habit changes before I would start saving money and the risk / reward is tight. and I am think I am fairly typical guy.... 2 kids, wife, four bedroom house - middle class kingdom

I am not convinced many people who swap their tariffs to ev ones are basing it on good numbers / maths. But maybe I am being unfair as well . You have to look at the big picture.

Edit: oh should be said some of the changes on the new tariffs come from gas rates having fallen. So this makes night / day even less attractive.

 

[TimothyN]

You do you, but I have run the numbers (it's a teeny bit patronising to assume that no-one but you has) and the combination of running heavy consumers at night and using V2L for things like space heating saves a lot of money.

 

[dx4100]

You do you, but I have run the numbers (it's a teeny bit patronising to assume that no-one but you has) and the combination of running heavy consumers at night and using V2L for things like space heating saves a lot of money.

I did say in my defence I was probably being unfair

I do think a reasonable amount of people get taken in by these headline off peak rates.

 

[bilbo]

To get the 9p what daytime rate are they giving you ? And what was your previous rate ?

I'm on EDF's GoElectric Jan27 version and pay 26p peak, 9p off-peak. Gas is fixed at 6p. The combined standing charge is £1/day though!!

Looks like EDF are also doing daytime smart charging now. You get off-peak rates for all the electricity you use whenever the car is plugged in and charging in addition to the 00:00 to 05:00 window. However, you are of course letting EDF to decide when to charge the car during the peak times. I haven't decided to go this route yet.

 

[Adamsapple]

I'm on EDF's GoElectric Jan27 version and pay 26p peak, 9p off-peak. Gas is fixed at 6p. The combined standing charge is £1/day though!!

Looks like EDF are also doing daytime smart charging now. You get off-peak rates for all the electricity you use whenever the car is plugged in and charging in addition to the 00:00 to 05:00 window. However, you are of course letting EDF to decide when to charge the car during the peak times. I haven't decided to go this route yet.

Actually you're right I am on 26p peak time rate, and my standing charge is 63p per day, yes combined it is £1 per day.

I wasn't aware of smart charging, it sounds good?