EV tariffs

[Aunty Pasty]

Doesn't the app give you the high low periods when you schedule a charge? maybe it works only if you have a compatible home charger.

[T_S_M]

Aunty Pasty said:

Doesn't the app give you the high low periods when you schedule a charge? maybe it works only if you have a compatible home charger.

I'm connecting directly to the car at the moment due to not having a wall charger installed yet.

Once the car is plugged in, the app automatically schedules the charge, unless you force the charge on manually.

[audi321]

T_S_M said:

Even better then!

I was just worried I was putting it on charge from 6pm till 8am and getting charged the full rate until the cheap rate window during the night.

You will be able to see in the app if you’ve made ‘saving’ during that time (it’s live) if you have then you’re getting the 7p rate

[T_S_M]

I’ve just plugged in now and it’s started immediately charging as that’s the schedule it’s set:



Doesn’t say what rate I’ll pay between 21:07 and 12:30am though?

[-Ad-]

It's always the 7.5p rate when the app gives you a charging window.

Best get the washing on, dishwasher etc etc

[audi321]

Is it actually charging? It’s just the ‘bump charge’ is highlighted?

[Mahalo]

-Ad- said:

It's always the 7.5p rate when the app gives you a charging window.

Best get the washing on, dishwasher etc etc

This.^
As I mentioned earlier you can influence Octopus Intelligent Go and encourage it to give you extra time for charging. All the electric used during the smart charging periods plus the period from 23.30 to 05:30 will be charged at the 7.5p/kwh rate.

[T_S_M]

audi321 said:

Is it actually charging? It’s just the ‘bump charge’ is highlighted?

Yeah it was charging and I hadn’t pressed the ‘bump charge’ button. Settings were left from yesterday and I just opened the app up, didn’t press anything.

[df76]

Has anyone ever had the app say "nope, we're not giving you the cheap rate because you're taking advantage"?

[Mahalo]

df76 said:

Has anyone ever had the app say "nope, we're not giving you the cheap rate because you're taking advantage"?

Nope - when Octopus Intelligent Go maps out the smart charging slots as it has done for TSM then all the electric used during the Smart charging slots is charged at 7.5p/kwh. This includes all electric used for the EV charging and all electric used by the house. In the example shown by TSM, cheap 7.5p/kwh electric was provided from 21.07 in the evening until 08:00 the following morning. So that is just under 11 hours of electric usage all charged at 7.5p/kwh.
If you do the maths from most usage scenarios then Octopus Intelligent Go works out cheaper than any of the other EV tariffs including the OVO tariff because of the fact that the whole house usage is also charged at the low rate. If you are an edge case say trying to charge two Evs on one 3 kw charger then by definition you cannot be a high EV user as the charge time will be so slow that you won't have time left to drive the EV. Typically a 3kw charger will add 7 miles per hour.

[Aunty Pasty]

T_S_M said:

I’ve just plugged in now and it’s started immediately charging as that’s the schedule it’s set:



Doesn’t say what rate I’ll pay between 21:07 and 12:30am though?

That seems a very generous extra window outside core hours. I usually only get an extra 0.5 - 1 hour either side of the core hours and I'm usually in bed long before then.

[df76]

Mahalo said:

df76 said:

Has anyone ever had the app say "nope, we're not giving you the cheap rate because you're taking advantage"?

Nope - when Octopus Intelligent Go maps out the smart charging slots as it has done for TSM then all the electric used during the Smart charging slots is charged at 7.5p/kwh. This includes all electric used for the EV charging and all electric used by the house. In the example shown by TSM, cheap 7.5p/kwh electric was provided from 21.07 in the evening until 08:00 the following morning. So that is just under 11 hours of electric usage all charged at 7.5p/kwh.
If you do the maths from most usage scenarios then Octopus Intelligent Go works out cheaper than any of the other EV tariffs including the OVO tariff because of the fact that the whole house usage is also charged at the low rate. If you are an edge case say trying to charge two Evs on one 3 kw charger then by definition you cannot be a high EV user as the charge time will be so slow that you won't have time left to drive the EV. Typically a 3kw charger will add 7 miles per hour.

So I’m charging with a granny charger at the moment and it takes over 24 hours for a full charge. If I came home with a low state of charge and just requested it fills to 100% (which would take many hours), what would OI do in that scenario?

[Mahalo]

df76 said:

So I’m charging with a granny charger at the moment and it takes over 24 hours for a full charge. If I came home with a low state of charge and just requested it fills to 100% (which would take many hours), what would OI do in that scenario?

The best way to find out is to try it - I don't have sight of how their software code works out how to allocate extra Smart charging slots to achieve this. I think you have already posted that you have pushed the envelope in terms of charging and OI has given you more Smart charging time slots to do this. I have also done the same and others have posted of similar experiences and so far OI has allocated extra slots to achieve the target charge level and departure time but I have a 7kw charger which helps from a time perspective. Long term a granny charger might not be the best option in terms of taking advantage of time based pricing which seems to be here to stay in the UK.

[T_S_M]

df76 said:

Mahalo said:

df76 said:

Has anyone ever had the app say "nope, we're not giving you the cheap rate because you're taking advantage"?

Nope - when Octopus Intelligent Go maps out the smart charging slots as it has done for TSM then all the electric used during the Smart charging slots is charged at 7.5p/kwh. This includes all electric used for the EV charging and all electric used by the house. In the example shown by TSM, cheap 7.5p/kwh electric was provided from 21.07 in the evening until 08:00 the following morning. So that is just under 11 hours of electric usage all charged at 7.5p/kwh.
If you do the maths from most usage scenarios then Octopus Intelligent Go works out cheaper than any of the other EV tariffs including the OVO tariff because of the fact that the whole house usage is also charged at the low rate. If you are an edge case say trying to charge two Evs on one 3 kw charger then by definition you cannot be a high EV user as the charge time will be so slow that you won't have time left to drive the EV. Typically a 3kw charger will add 7 miles per hour.

So I’m charging with a granny charger at the moment and it takes over 24 hours for a full charge. If I came home with a low state of charge and just requested it fills to 100% (which would take many hours), what would OI do in that scenario?

This is what I’m unsure about. As an experiment I plugged it in this afternoon and left it to work out it’s smart charging schedule…



Surely Octopus aren’t giving me an extra 11 hours at the cheaper rate, as well as through the night?!

I can’t see anywhere on the app where it tells you the live/current cost per kWh.

ETA: On the FAQ section on the app it says the following:



I just struggle to believe they’re giving me the whole lot at 7.5p

Edited by T_S_M on Thursday 25th January 14:34

[Aunty Pasty]

Your IO monthly bill (in your email) will contain a day by day breakdown of your usage. Each day will have it's own usage graph and it shows the rate on the graph.

[df76]

T_S_M said:

df76 said:

Mahalo said:

df76 said:

Has anyone ever had the app say "nope, we're not giving you the cheap rate because you're taking advantage"?

Nope - when Octopus Intelligent Go maps out the smart charging slots as it has done for TSM then all the electric used during the Smart charging slots is charged at 7.5p/kwh. This includes all electric used for the EV charging and all electric used by the house. In the example shown by TSM, cheap 7.5p/kwh electric was provided from 21.07 in the evening until 08:00 the following morning. So that is just under 11 hours of electric usage all charged at 7.5p/kwh.
If you do the maths from most usage scenarios then Octopus Intelligent Go works out cheaper than any of the other EV tariffs including the OVO tariff because of the fact that the whole house usage is also charged at the low rate. If you are an edge case say trying to charge two Evs on one 3 kw charger then by definition you cannot be a high EV user as the charge time will be so slow that you won't have time left to drive the EV. Typically a 3kw charger will add 7 miles per hour.

So I’m charging with a granny charger at the moment and it takes over 24 hours for a full charge. If I came home with a low state of charge and just requested it fills to 100% (which would take many hours), what would OI do in that scenario?

This is what I’m unsure about. As an experiment I plugged it in this afternoon and left it to work out it’s smart charging schedule…



Surely Octopus aren’t giving me an extra 11 hours at the cheaper rate, as well as through the night?!

I can’t see anywhere on the app where it tells you the live/current cost per kWh.

ETA: On the FAQ section on the app it says the following:



I just struggle to believe they’re giving me the whole lot at 7.5p

Edited by T_S_M on Thursday 25th January 14:34

That's interesting (thanks).. next time I need a large charge, I'll do the same and see what I get. If they do allow you a long extended charge (seems madness) then that completely negates the need for a faster charger - and actually just means I get to run the rest of the house cheaper. Perhaps they are just assuming that everyone would be using 7kw chargers, and the need to extend charging windows is pretty rare in those scenarios?

Edited by df76 on Thursday 25th January 16:08

[audi321]

So it makes sense to have a slow charger?? Because your whole house is getting the 7.5p rate during car charging time? Is that right?

[porsch1909]

If I have two cars that need plugged in with one set up on Octopus intelligent how do I go about charging the second one? Do I just plug my zappi in and it will charge or will Octopus stop it from charging and I need to do a bump charge?

[df76]

audi321 said:

So it makes sense to have a slow charger?? Because your whole house is getting the 7.5p rate during car charging time? Is that right?

I guess the supply business model will be based on that the vast majority will be using a 7kwh charger, especially if you do big miles each day. The chances of someone who needs a significant charge each day and also relying on a granny charger must be pretty slim (but there may be the opportunity to take advantage in some cases).

[Richtea1970]

audi321 said:

So it makes sense to have a slow charger?? Because your whole house is getting the 7.5p rate during car charging time? Is that right?

It’s common knowledge that a lot of people on ‘Intelligent Go’ charge via a ‘granny’ charger, even if they have a 7kw charger. A granny only charges at about 2 to 3kw which means you get a 7.5p rate for the whole house for a much longer period.