Utility Octopus Energy has launched a subscription model offering UK drivers ‘unlimited’ smart EV charging for £30 a month.
Customers on a standard Octopus electricity tariff – with no smart tariff or home battery required – can subscribe to have one electric car’s charging scheduled by Octopus, usually overnight. A ‘ready by’ time between 4-11am can be set by customers to ensure their EV is charged by the time they need it.
Called Intelligent Drive Pack, the subscription enables Octopus to schedule charging at times when electricity is in low demand and therefore cheaper. The scheme is compatible with almost 280 EV brands and chargers but will not work with brands not covered by the scheme.
Described by chief product officer at Octopus Energy Rebecca Dibb-Simkin as “another step towards making electric cars the obvious choice for everyone”, the scheme offers an alternative to Octopus’ smart EV tariff Intelligent Octopus Go.
Through the tariff, 150,000 EV batteries are combined into virtual power plants (VPPs) through Octopus’ Kraken platform. It automatically shifts customers’ EV charging to cheaper times (typically overnight) and in May last year had reached a cumulative 1GW of EV batteries being managed.
The Kraken platform offers customers smart energy tariffs by providing automated flexibility that lowers bills by using wholesale pricing.
At the beginning of the year, it became the largest domestic energy provider in Great Britain with a 23.7% share of the available market. Octopus Energy’s founder, Greg Jackson, attributed this to the company “relentlessly” delivering on service, cost reductions and innovation.
Much of the company’s cost reduction is thanks to the Kraken technology, which supports Octopus’ mass-market vehicle-to-grid (V2G) tariff, Octopus Power Pack. It uses Kraken to balance charging and discharging back to the grid during periods of peak demand.
The tariff works as a bolt-on that separates charging from the rest of the home and runs alongside the customer’s regular import tariff.
In the name of making EV ownership accessible, Octopus also offers a salary sacrifice option for EV leasing, offering savings of up to 40% on a bundle of an EV, charger and discounted energy tariff.
Owning an EV is generally accepted to be overall cheaper than a petrol equivalent. Cornwall Insight published figures last week showing that customers on specialist off-peak EV tariffs could see average annual savings of up to £1,240 compared to petrol vehicles.
