MG ZS EV- Charging using 3 pin UK

[navneeth1986]

OK. thank you. I will check

 

[Lewis49]

Be careful who you switch to. I was with Yorkshire Energy on economy 7, they went bust last summer and I got moved to Scottish Power. They were very efficient at fitting a smart meter. Unfortunately it only worked for exactly one month. After that it recorded everything on the day rate. I contacted customer services and they said I would need a visit from an engineer but none were available for the foreseeable future. I gave EDF a call, they told me it wouldn't be a problem so I switched to them. The switch completed on 25th August and hey presto the smart meter worked fine on economy7 immediately, no visit from any engineers.
I gave them a couple of weeks, then applied for their go electric tariff. I was told it wasn't available in my area (Eastern), the smart meter signal wasn't reliable enough.
I then applied to switch to Octopus Go. The switch went through on 30th September and by 3rd October I was already on Go. 5p 0030 to 0430, 15.96p 0430 - 0030. 25p standing charge. This is until 3rd October 22.
Five months in and they have received meter readings every 1/2 hour so far, still not had my first bill though. Not much of a problem as I can check my daily usage on their Website and adjust my direct debit to suit.

I wouldn't recommend Scottish Power, their customer services are clueless, EDF may be OK if you are allowed to get their ev tariff, Octopus seem OK but the rates are higher now. You need to calculate what you can use on each rate to be sure if it's worthwhile.

 

[navneeth1986]

Thanks for your advice. Trouble is I don't have a smart meter, so I cant go for Octopus. Might have to stick with British Gas for at least a year with their Electric Vehicle tariff.

 

[Mihir]

Thanks for your advice. Trouble is I don't have a smart meter, so I cant go for Octopus. Might have to stick with British Gas for at least a year with their Electric Vehicle tariff.

In the meanwhile try to push them to install a smart meter. I am not sure if you can privately get a smart meter installed too. May be worth a check.

 

[navneeth1986]

Yes, I will try.

 

[drmcw]

Thanks for your advice. Trouble is I don't have a smart meter, so I cant go for Octopus. Might have to stick with British Gas for at least a year with their Electric Vehicle tariff.

You only need a smart meter for their agile and go tarifs. I'm with Octopus and don't have a smart meter.

 

[navneeth1986]

You only need a smart meter for their agile and go tarifs. I'm with Octopus and don't have a smart meter.

ok. Thank you. Let me give them a call and check. Will try and get the one that doesn't require smart metre,

 

[Lovemyev]

I am one who held off having a smart meter fitted for a LONG time.
But you will find that having a new smart meter installed, will make it so much easier to switch energy provider in the future.
This is the main aim of having one installed, switching is then SO much quicker.

 

[Alb]

I am one who held off having a smart meter fitted for a LONG time.

Me too
My original meter worked perfectly well and suited my tariff so there was absolutely no case for changing it.
It was only EV purchase and Octopus Go that changed that. On the plus side, along with the new meter I also had the tails uprated and an isolator fitted free of charge.

 

[drmcw]

This is the main aim of having one installed, switching is SO much quicker.

Really? It was pretty instant when I switched. Thought the main reason was for smarter tariffs? I'd like a meter but have been waiting a loooong time as 3 phase meters are like hens teeth apparently!

 

[Lovemyev]

Me too
My original meter worked perfectly well and suited my tariff so there was absolutely no case for changing it.
It was only EV purchase and Octopus Go that changed that. On the plus side, along with the new meter I also had the tails uprated and an isolator fitted free of charge.

Originally we had the "Old School" mechanical timer and wheel spinning meter system !.
The house was originally set up to accommodate electric storage heaters on a Economy 7 tariff, way back in 1981.
The house was never wired for night storage heaters in the end, but the meter and timer stayed.
When we bought our first part electric PHEV in 2015 we looked for a cheaper off peak tariff.
The PHEV had a inbuilt charge delay function, so are charging was carried out over night.
As the battery was so small, it would fully charge from the Granny in about 4.45 mins.
I then decided to take advantage of the grant and had a wall box installed.
It's a dumb unit due to the age of course.
Then the "Old School" timer failed and we had a digital dual rate meter installed.
This dealt with the recording the readings and the switching over the tariffs just fine for a couple of years.
But I soon found, that when looking around for EV dedicated rates, they where all requesting Smart meters to gain access to these tariff's.
So, another meter change was required !.
One thing I have found really useful, is when the smart meter was installed, they left us with a home energy meter, which lives on the kitchen worktop.
I thought is was a bit of a gimmick at first, but I have found it really useful to plot the charging behaviour of our ZS EV after the BMS was updated.
We already had a 100Amp isolation fitted, so any electrical work required now is a lot easier.