High usage charge anytime EV tarrif
Discussion
I've ordered an electric van for work and I'm looking for recommendations for a tarrif to charge it at home.
During the depths of winter I'll more than likely be using most of or all of the 87kwh battery capacity on a daily basis, less at other times of year obviously. A quick glance suggests some dedicated EV tarrifs have a limit on the kWh you can use.
I'll generally be charging between roughly 7pm and 7am however I'll more than likely be getting an electric car this year too and that will also need charged so a tarrif that you can charge anytime of day would be better.
I also need to get a home charger, I know nothing about any of them although I see and hear zappi mentioned a lot so recommendations for that would be appreciated also.
During the depths of winter I'll more than likely be using most of or all of the 87kwh battery capacity on a daily basis, less at other times of year obviously. A quick glance suggests some dedicated EV tarrifs have a limit on the kWh you can use.
I'll generally be charging between roughly 7pm and 7am however I'll more than likely be getting an electric car this year too and that will also need charged so a tarrif that you can charge anytime of day would be better.
I also need to get a home charger, I know nothing about any of them although I see and hear zappi mentioned a lot so recommendations for that would be appreciated also.
You 100% need a home charger for daily use like that, bearing in mind they max out at 7kw per hour (plus allow for some loses) so you'll still need a few hours, I have a basic ohme epod connected with Intelligent Octopus Go and find it fine, there's lots of options for chargers but they all do pretty much the same thing. See if your utilities provider will do a deal.
A 'granny charger' 3 pin plug will do 1-2kw per hour and just wont be sensible, public charging remains expensive for high users (starting at 50p unit for someone like connected kerb and rising for rapids).
There are some fixed price tariffs including day use but you might find on balance someone like Octopus offering 5/6 hours at 7.5p per unit per night plus intelligent off peak charging when grid allows works, if its not off peak rate then its about 30p so you'd get x hours @ 30p and y hours @ 7.5p so you need to do the sums and will it really be empty each night or will the c. 50% charge you could receive guaranteed at the cheap right work every night?
There's no limit on what you can use, but there's usually a limit on what will be super cheap!
A 'granny charger' 3 pin plug will do 1-2kw per hour and just wont be sensible, public charging remains expensive for high users (starting at 50p unit for someone like connected kerb and rising for rapids).
There are some fixed price tariffs including day use but you might find on balance someone like Octopus offering 5/6 hours at 7.5p per unit per night plus intelligent off peak charging when grid allows works, if its not off peak rate then its about 30p so you'd get x hours @ 30p and y hours @ 7.5p so you need to do the sums and will it really be empty each night or will the c. 50% charge you could receive guaranteed at the cheap right work every night?
There's no limit on what you can use, but there's usually a limit on what will be super cheap!
I’d be wondering for your use case if it’s worth getting 3-phase installed to AC charge at 11-22kw rather than the 7.2kw available on single phase.
Let’s say you’re looking to charge 80kWh a night with a 6 hour overnight cheap window
80kWh @ 7.5p/kWh = 600p
Vs
6x7.2 =43.2 kWh @ 7.5 = 324p
37kWh @ 30p = 1110p
324+1110 =1,434
1434-600=834
So £8.34 a day saved by using 32A 3phase
Say 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year (have some holiday!)
8.34x5x48=2,001.6
£2k a year saved by being able to charge at 22kWh overnight.
Can the vehicle do 22kw? Or 11kw? Adjust the maths accordingly.
Sorry unsure what your install costs of 3 phase would be. Probably made even more appealing if you get some home LFP batteries and charge them overnight then probably all your usage is cheap rate.
Heck, maybe buying a battery setup is cheaper than 3 phase install. You’d be able to charge the vehicle and the battery each 43kwh a night.
Let’s say you’re looking to charge 80kWh a night with a 6 hour overnight cheap window
80kWh @ 7.5p/kWh = 600p
Vs
6x7.2 =43.2 kWh @ 7.5 = 324p
37kWh @ 30p = 1110p
324+1110 =1,434
1434-600=834
So £8.34 a day saved by using 32A 3phase
Say 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year (have some holiday!)
8.34x5x48=2,001.6
£2k a year saved by being able to charge at 22kWh overnight.
Can the vehicle do 22kw? Or 11kw? Adjust the maths accordingly.
Sorry unsure what your install costs of 3 phase would be. Probably made even more appealing if you get some home LFP batteries and charge them overnight then probably all your usage is cheap rate.
Heck, maybe buying a battery setup is cheaper than 3 phase install. You’d be able to charge the vehicle and the battery each 43kwh a night.
3 phase did cross my mind and the charging speed would be perfect for me but when I had a quick google the cost and work required and also possibly having to use a commercial electricity tarrif put me off.
That's what made me think more along the lines of a charge anytime type tarrif without a low limit due to the amount I'd be charging.
That's what made me think more along the lines of a charge anytime type tarrif without a low limit due to the amount I'd be charging.
bsmrhanman said:
I've ordered an electric van for work and I'm looking for recommendations for a tarrif to charge it at home.
During the depths of winter I'll more than likely be using most of or all of the 87kwh battery capacity on a daily basis, less at other times of year obviously. A quick glance suggests some dedicated EV tarrifs have a limit on the kWh you can use.
I'll generally be charging between roughly 7pm and 7am however I'll more than likely be getting an electric car this year too and that will also need charged so a tarrif that you can charge anytime of day would be better.
I also need to get a home charger, I know nothing about any of them although I see and hear zappi mentioned a lot so recommendations for that would be appreciated also.
Really interesting to see what’s available for your usage as it’s relatively “heavy” for an ev user at the moment but in the future this will be become common. During the depths of winter I'll more than likely be using most of or all of the 87kwh battery capacity on a daily basis, less at other times of year obviously. A quick glance suggests some dedicated EV tarrifs have a limit on the kWh you can use.
I'll generally be charging between roughly 7pm and 7am however I'll more than likely be getting an electric car this year too and that will also need charged so a tarrif that you can charge anytime of day would be better.
I also need to get a home charger, I know nothing about any of them although I see and hear zappi mentioned a lot so recommendations for that would be appreciated also.
Has anyone any experience of using the Scottish power optimise tarrif?
https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/ev-optimise
Looks like it could possibly be a good option for me unless I'm missing something in the small print somewhere.
They also offer an Easee wall charger which tbh I've never heard of so no idea if it's any good.
https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/ev-optimise
Looks like it could possibly be a good option for me unless I'm missing something in the small print somewhere.
They also offer an Easee wall charger which tbh I've never heard of so no idea if it's any good.
You need a charger or eligible car for that (there's a compatibility check on there), and sounds good. But it will only be the car. Most EV tariffs give you a very cheap rate for the whole house. If you can't put timers on other appliances, this may not be of benefit.
The issue is the prices. I've been paying 6.7p per hour for 7 hrs per night with EON since May 2025. When it expires in May, the rate is now 9.5p for 6 hrs, that's a 40% increase.
Still cheap running costs in comparison to petrol, but not as attractive as it was. Octopus have introduced exit fees on their tariffs.
The issue is the prices. I've been paying 6.7p per hour for 7 hrs per night with EON since May 2025. When it expires in May, the rate is now 9.5p for 6 hrs, that's a 40% increase.
Still cheap running costs in comparison to petrol, but not as attractive as it was. Octopus have introduced exit fees on their tariffs.bsmrhanman said:
3 phase did cross my mind and the charging speed would be perfect for me but when I had a quick google the cost and work required and also possibly having to use a commercial electricity tarrif put me off.
That's what made me think more along the lines of a charge anytime type tarrif without a low limit due to the amount I'd be charging.
3 phase cost me circa £1200 to have installed, you pay a normal domestic tarrif at home, no extra standing charge or KWH costThat's what made me think more along the lines of a charge anytime type tarrif without a low limit due to the amount I'd be charging.
Although OVO Charge Anytime is now expensive at 14p/kWh, there aren’t any limitations on usage as far as I’m aware, so you’d at least get all of it at that price rather than a split of off peak vs full price. You’d have to do the sums to see if this made sense for your use profile though.
plfrench said:
Although OVO Charge Anytime is now expensive at 14p/kWh, there aren t any limitations on usage as far as I m aware, so you d at least get all of it at that price rather than a split of off peak vs full price. You d have to do the sums to see if this made sense for your use profile though.
Is it similar to the Scottish power one where the 14p/kWh is for the EV only and an add on to a standard electricity tariff with different prices for the house?bsmrhanman said:
Is it similar to the Scottish power one where the 14p/kWh is for the EV only and an add on to a standard electricity tariff with different prices for the house?
Not sure about the Scottish Power one, but the Ovo one works as a rebate essentially. There's a set amount for the household tariff which is the same regardless of whether you have an EV or not. In my case I'm on 1 year fixed at 22.8 p/kWh with 51.54p per day standing charge. They then credit the difference of 22.8-14p/kWh to my bill for the electricity that is taken by the EVs on a monthly basis. plfrench said:
Not sure about the Scottish Power one, but the Ovo one works as a rebate essentially. There's a set amount for the household tariff which is the same regardless of whether you have an EV or not. In my case I'm on 1 year fixed at 22.8 p/kWh with 51.54p per day standing charge. They then credit the difference of 22.8-14p/kWh to my bill for the electricity that is taken by the EVs on a monthly basis.
Yes the SP one is the same it gets applied as a credit Their 9p is a fair bit lower than 14p but their fixed tarrif has 64p standing charge and 24.5p unit rate so a bit more expensive than Ovo on that side
There is also an option of taking their Easee wall charger and that gives you access to 6p per kWh instead of 9p for a year.
Frankychops said:
3 phase cost me circa £1200 to have installed, you pay a normal domestic tarrif at home, no extra standing charge or KWH cost
Did you have any luck getting a smart meter for it ? We gave 3 phase but so far haven’t been able to get a residential smart meter which rules out most EV tariffs. We don’t do high mileage so not as big a cost issue as the OP but would still be good to save if we could. Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff