EV tariffs

[Gwynfor Hughes]

There are some good tariffs to be had out there but sadly not for MGs
Are there any moves out there to rectify this please?

 

[Alb]

If you mean a tariff that is not EVSE dependent, you are mistaken. The original Octopus Go is still a very good tariff.

 

[Jomarkh]

MG won't release API codes so you need a compatible EVSE to get IOG or any for GO

 

[Gwynfor Hughes]

Don't understand what you mean by EVSE dependent.
Agree Octopus Go is good but restrictive 0030 to 0430.
The OVO tariff seems far more flexible with daytime cheap rates but my car and charger are not compatible hence my enquiry.

 

[fred12345]

There are some good tariffs to be had out there but sadly not for MGs
Are there any moves out there to rectify this please?

What tariffs are good? I'm comparing a few at the moment and they all seem to be a tradeoff between hours, kWh charges and standing charges on top of "special requirements" like a specific car or charger...
On top of which household electricity use needs to be taken into account...

Good thread but could we please stick with best EV tariff subject that is not only available to specific chargers or specific cars and takes into account household electricity use as well

Compare like for like please - number of hours, peak and off-peak kWh price and standing charges and then say if any special requirements are there to get that tariff

 

[Gomev]

What tariffs are good? I'm comparing a few at the moment and they all seem to be a tradeoff between hours, kWh charges and standing charges on top of "special requirements" like a specific car or charger...
On top of which household electricity use needs to be taken into account...

Good thread but could we please stick with best EV tariff subject that is not only available to specific chargers or specific cars and takes into account household electricity use as well

Compare like for like please - number of hours, peak and off-peak kWh price and standing charges and then say if any special requirements are there to get that tariff

Standing charges will be the same whichever supplier you go for, they are set by Ofgem for the region. Octopus slightly reduce them from the max allowed, maybe others do too but it is merely a penny or two.
Also whilst demanding that we compare like for like only and take other factors into account, please feel free to continue your research and provide the data to add to the conversation.

 

[fred12345]

Standing charges will be the same whichever supplier you go for, they are set by Ofgem for the region. Octopus slightly reduce them from the max allowed, maybe others do too but it is merely a penny or two.
Also whilst demanding that we compare like for like only and take other factors into account, please feel free to continue your research and provide the data to add to the conversation.

Supplier	Tariff	Standing Charge (Daily)	Standing Charge (Yearly)
British Gas	Fixed Lighter May25 v3	22.98p	£83.87	Compare prices >
British Gas	Fixed Lighter 12M v2	22.98p	£83.87	Compare prices >
Ecotricity	2 Year Fixed Tariff V24.1	30.86p	£112.63	Compare prices >
100Green	Sparkling SVT	34.03p	£124.22	Compare prices >
100Green	Sparkling Fix - May 2025	34.03p	£124.22	Compare prices >
British Gas	Fixed May25 v5	35.31p	£128.88	Compare prices >
British Gas	Fixed Tariff 12M v3	35.31p	£128.88	Compare prices >
Octopus Energy	Flexible Octopus	38.72p	£141.34

 

[Buster72]

I have just switched my British Gas Electric Driver tariff from v5 to the much more competitive V6.
Can't say that the tariff switch was simple. I had to phone up every day for a week because the BG website would not let me do it.

 

[Gomev]

Supplier	Tariff	Standing Charge (Daily)	Standing Charge (Yearly)
British Gas	Fixed Lighter May25 v3	22.98p	£83.87	Compare prices >
British Gas	Fixed Lighter 12M v2	22.98p	£83.87	Compare prices >
Ecotricity	2 Year Fixed Tariff V24.1	30.86p	£112.63	Compare prices >
100Green	Sparkling SVT	34.03p	£124.22	Compare prices >
100Green	Sparkling Fix - May 2025	34.03p	£124.22	Compare prices >
British Gas	Fixed May25 v5	35.31p	£128.88	Compare prices >
British Gas	Fixed Tariff 12M v3	35.31p	£128.88	Compare prices >
Octopus Energy	Flexible Octopus	38.72p	£141.34

Thank you, although the standing charges look a bit all over the place. See this post BG or Octopus EV tariff

 

[gazza487]

I’m tagging on here but one that isn’t mentioned (probably because it’s only just come back to market) Eon next drive. It’s cheaper than BG and gives midnight until 7am.

What I can’t quite work out is if you need a compatible charger - nothing I can see says you do but would be interesting to know. I’m nowhere near coming off the BG fix but cheaper and 7 hours would be nice.

 

[fred12345]

Thank you, although the stranding charges look a bit all over the place. See this post BG or Octopus EV tariff

I agree that 22p standing charge sounds unreal - no idea...

I'm new to EV and still trying to figure out whether I could live without a 7kW charger - since I drive mainly local and not every day, I keep thinking how many times I can charge my car for £1,000+ that EV charger would cost me ...

I started collecting different "3-pin" tariffs that are not charger specific and then I guess have to compare with 7kW options ... any I find, I'll post them here

 

[Gomev]

I agree that 22p standing charge sounds unreal - no idea...

I'm new to EV and still trying to figure out whether I could live without a 7kW charger - since I drive mainly local and not every day, I keep thinking how many times I can charge my car for £1,000+ that EV charger would cost me ...

I started collecting different "3-pin" tariffs that are not charger specific and then I guess have to compare with 7kW options ... any I find, I'll post them here

Agreed, there are 2 questions here, whether to fork out a grand for charging quicker, and secondly is it worth getting a time of day tariff, i.e. does the off peak usage counter the increased peak rate usage.
Regards the latter you can work this out, based on your normal household usage plus your EV charging**. Once this is decided and it will probably go in favour of getting an EV tariff, then if you want to save the outlay on an EVSE and your house wiring is up to it then it will be length of off peak rate that will be important. 4 hours on Octopus Go is sufficient for me to add 40+% to my LR 5, however on a 3 pin granny it might not be as convenient and I would want more hours each night.

** On current Octopus Go rates if you use approx 15% or more of your normal household usage to charge your car off peak than it worth getting an EV tariff. For example if you use 100kWh per week normally in your house, excluding charging car, then if you add 15kWh or more to the car then an EV rate is cheaper overall.
On Octopus Intelligent Go the percentage required is approx 13%.

I created my own spreadsheet to work this out when I first got an EV and posted it on here for all to use, as the differential between peak and off peak rates was significant at the time. However the difference is quite small now and an EV tariff is way better in most instances.
EVM later did a more comprehensive spreadsheet to compare multiple tariffs that existed at the time and I attach that here, change only the red cells to the correct figures now for you or tariffs you want to compare. Also change tariff names obviously.

 

[GaryMG4]

I agree that 22p standing charge sounds unreal - no idea...

I'm new to EV and still trying to figure out whether I could live without a 7kW charger - since I drive mainly local and not every day, I keep thinking how many times I can charge my car for £1,000+ that EV charger would cost me ...

I started collecting different "3-pin" tariffs that are not charger specific and then I guess have to compare with 7kW options ... any I find, I'll post them here

11 months and 7.7k miles into my EV journey I am still unconvinced that I need a a 7kW charger. I decided to try a winter without before committing. I've spent a total of £22 on public charging in the last 6 months where I've wanted and extra top up due to longer trips on consecutive days.
I'm retired so charging at home isn't an issue as I don't need to go to work every day. As you say £1k equates to around 4000 kWh or around 2 years driving for me which seems a lot for the convenience of a faster charge and a saving of 1.5p comparing Octopus Go vs IOG.

 

[Garmor]

Don't understand what you mean by EVSE dependent.
Agree Octopus Go is good but restrictive 0030 to 0430.
The OVO tariff seems far more flexible with daytime cheap rates but my car and charger are not compatible hence my enquiry.

Check Intelligent Octopus Go. (11.30 pm to 5 am, 7.5p/kWh). I have a Ohme ePod charger and everything works fine.

 

[fred12345]

Check Intelligent Octopus Go. (11.30 pm to 5 am, 7.5p/kWh). I have a Ohme ePod charger and everything works fine.

That is if you have a specific charger that allows you to access that tariff, can't get it with 3-pin charger. The only other option is Octopus Go 00:30-04:30 at 9p and 27.94p other times

 

[johnb80]

There are some good tariffs to be had out there but sadly not for MGs
Are there any moves out there to rectify this please?

Use a compatible wallbox instead and then the car doesnt matter. Intelligent Octopus GO is 7.5p for 6 hours (23:30 to 05:30) plus additional times under Octopus control. Currently Zappi, Ohme and Wallbox are the compatible chargers.

 

[Jomarkh]

Is it the Hypervolt that is coming soon to IOG?

 

[johnb80]

Is it the Hypervolt that is coming soon to IOG?

Hypervolt signs multi-year agreement with Kraken Technologies

 

[Rolfe]

After going for a year with only a 13A socket (and a 50 kw rapid charger five minutes walk away) I decided to get a home charger. The rapid charger became unattractive as winter set in, and rather than a pleasant walk to and from the thing it began to look like I would have to sit on it at nearly midnight in freezing rain if I wanted the car fully charged by the next day. Also they doubled the price from 30p to 60p.

While I found that I could actually keep up with my usage purely on the 13A socket, I was playing with fire in terms of two heavy driving days coming up back to back. I only avoided the midnight stint on the village rapid charger one night by plugging into a destination charger while I was at the theatre. Fine, but there isn't always a destination charger where I park.

So I decided to go the whole hog. Zappi, home battery and 18 PV panels arriving in less than two weeks. I haven't decided about a tariff yet. My installer seems keen on Octopus Flux, but I don't even know if the MG4 is supported on that. I also haven't figured out how some of these really cheap deals can be making money for the supplier. Surely if everyone only draws from the grid when the price is a few pennies and lives off their battery the rest of the time, the supplier is losing out?

If I can sell PV output to them, and then buy electricity back at a lower price at the right time, where's their profit? In other words, what's the damn catch?

 

[Bam Bam]

After going for a year with only a 13A socket (and a 50 kw rapid charger five minutes walk away) I decided to get a home charger. The rapid charger became unattractive as winter set in, and rather than a pleasant walk to and from the thing it began to look like I would have to sit on it at nearly midnight in freezing rain if I wanted the car fully charged by the next day. Also they doubled the price from 30p to 60p.

While I found that I could actually keep up with my usage purely on the 13A socket, I was playing with fire in terms of two heavy driving days coming up back to back. I only avoided the midnight stint on the village rapid charger one night by plugging into a destination charger while I was at the theatre. Fine, but there isn't always a destination charger where I park.

So I decided to go the whole hog. Zappi, home battery and 18 PV panels arriving in less than two weeks. I haven't decided about a tariff yet. My installer seems keen on Octopus Flux, but I don't even know if the MG4 is supported on that. I also haven't figured out how some of these really cheap deals can be making money for the supplier. Surely if everyone only draws from the grid when the price is a few pennies and lives off their battery the rest of the time, the supplier is losing out?

If I can sell PV output to them, and then buy electricity back at a lower price at the right time, where's their profit? In other words, what's the damn catch?

I'm on intelligent Octopus flux and can recommend. The car has nothing to do with it - the intelligent bit applies to the Givenergy battery - they control it and in exchange you get amazing returns on your export to the grid.

Essentially you are using the grid as your battery so just charge the car when you want outside the 4-7pm peak hours. You could be good to Octopus and the planet and do it when the electricity is cheapest and greenest like I do but there is no direct person financial benefit to take such care.

We make about £4 net credit on electricity on a good April solar day, perhaps only £1 on a dreich day.

In terms of how Octopus make their money, I looked up the Agile prices yesterday and it was about 8p while they were charging us 22p to fill up the battery (or they would be if it wasn't coming from our own solar). Then they were discharging during the peak, paying me 28p when the grid price was around the same. So Octopus make money out of our battery and we get to sell our solar surplus at a very high rate in exchange.

Happy to be used in that way - Octopus need to make some money out of it and I am getting something from it too.

If you want to get more involved in the energy trading you can go for agile or some wholesale price tracker but then you'd have to constantly monitor and adjust settings (or set up some sort of smart automation which I think it beyond me).

In September or October I expect we will switch to an EV tariff and focus on buying cheap overnight.