What electric company to use?

[Neko]

Hello
Next week I will receive a an MG Trophy Long Range.
I am very excited but I am so new at all this the charging is baffling me.
I have a hive charger EO mini pro 3 and I am with octopus flexible. I have a smart meter.
The octopus web site says my charger/car are not compatible with their EV tariff.
So I am looking at British Gas to get the cheap tariff but can’t find a comparability table. Don’t want to swap to find out it’s the same thing. Any suggestions for a total confused newbie. I really thought I’d just be plugging it in!
Thanks

 

[Alb]

Your setup will work on Octopus Go.

 

[Rolfe]

I just had a phone call from a rather sad woman at Scottish Power asking whether I would tell her why I was leaving. I said electric car, solar installed today, better tariffs from Octopus. She said something about supposing I'd looked at their very new EV tariff and compared? I actually hadn't, but I just said something about Octopus overall being the best deal.

I felt like saying, look, anyone who gets an EV is going to move to Octopus and I doubt if there's anything you can do about it. I just said I didn't have any complaints about their service, and we parted on good terms.

 

[Neko]

Your setup will work on Octopus Go.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.
When I tried on their app. MG wasn’t an option for Octopus GO. Any ideas?

 

[Gomev]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.
When I tried on their app. MG wasn’t an option for Octopus GO. Any ideas?

It's not an option for Octopus Intelligent Go. All cars/chargers are an option for Octopus Go.

*all provided as you say you have a smart meter.

 

[Robf]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.
When I tried on their app. MG wasn’t an option for Octopus GO. Any ideas?

Just give Octopus a call and they will switch you over to Go, if you have not got a smart meter, they will organise one to be fitted. This will give you cheap electricity between 12.30 and 4.30 am

 

[Neko]

It's not an option for Octopus Intelligent Go. All cars/chargers are an option for Octopus Go.

*all provided as you say you have a smart meter.

Thanks, I’ll contact them.
I have a lot to learn!

 

[gazza487]

Hello
Next week I will receive a an MG Trophy Long Range.
I am very excited but I am so new at all this the charging is baffling me.
I have a hive charger EO mini pro 3 and I am with octopus flexible. I have a smart meter.
The octopus web site says my charger/car are not compatible with their EV tariff.
So I am looking at British Gas to get the cheap tariff but can’t find a comparability table. Don’t want to swap to find out it’s the same thing. Any suggestions for a total confused newbie. I really thought I’d just be plugging it in!
Thanks

It’s only the really intelligent ones where they take control of the charger to allow them to turn it on at best times for them cost wise. BG have hive where you get an extra bonus but them and the majority of plans simply use your smart meter to swap to a lower rate (all use including the house).

BG, EON (I think) and octopus go offer the set times which only rely on smart meter, not the charger or car. As much as I hate BG they are actually cheaper than octopus go where I live AND I get 5 hours off peak, not 4 like octopus. I’ve not dug further but EON is very similar price to BG where I am but apparently offer 7 hours off peak.

 

[andyMG4]

eOn Next recently offered us (which we took) 6.9p/kWh (inc VAT) on 'Next Drive v3' from midnight to 7am 9 i.e. 7 hours as above, else 30.46p. SC is the Govt Cap for your area (49.92p for us - East).

I've not explored the others in detail, but a mate has said Octopus sound good, but can be difficult getting on it / a date to transfer.

 

[gazza487]

eOn Next recently offered us (which we took) 6.9p/kWh (inc VAT) on 'Next Drive v3' from midnight to 7am 9 i.e. 7 hours as above, else 30.46p. SC is the Govt Cap for your area (49.92p for us - East).

I've not explored the others in detail, but a mate has said Octopus sound good, but can be difficult getting on it / a date to transfer.

Good info on that, I spotted this and was very tempted but the day rate is a fair bit higher than BG for me. The 2 extra hours would be great but I don’t think it’d work out better.

Octopus would have been my go to IF I couldn’t have sorted the BG debacle. One thing with octopus - I don’t believe their prices are fixed. So I’d rather grab a little stability for a year in the crazy times.

 

[Rolfe]

I had no trouble transferring to Octopus. Pretty much same day.

 

[Gomev]

... One thing with octopus - I don’t believe their prices are fixed. So I’d rather grab a little stability for a year in the crazy times.

Only the Standard Variable Rate is fixed by Ofgem for everyone. Once you move to a time of day tariff with anyone it is not a fixed tariff unless specifically stated.

 

[gazza487]

Only the Standard Variable Rate is fixed by Ofgem for everyone. Once you move to a time of day tariff with anyone it is not a fixed tariff unless specifically stated.

BG fix on the ev tariff, EON fix on the ev tariff - others probably do too as was my point - octopus don’t to the best of my knowledge.

 

[m4rmite]

I am on eon next drive v2, I use more electricity on my car than I do on the house.
Its a win for me.

 

[NickHeynes]

I'm on the british gas EV tariff which gives me 4p /kWh between midnight and 5.00am . I'm currently looking at a solar/battery set up with effective home but the sums are giving me a headache!

 

[kelloggs]

I’ve been with octopus 4 years first on go now on intelligent go but I have an ohme charger. The off peak is where it shines as I charge the house batteries and run washing machines etc during that period 23:30-05:30. Also on periods where the intelligent charging gives us low rate. We have solar as well. I’ve always found them very competitive and easy to get hold of.

 

[Ejaydee]

As we do not have a "smart" charger, we have found Eon Next Drive to be the best option for us. We get 7 hours on the off peak tarrif. During the winter months, we charge one of the cars (Zoe or MG4) when needed, plus the house batteries (x2) and other energy heavy demands during that seven hours, but at this time of year, the solar panels tends to cover most of what we use, including the charging of the cars as we pull the charge from the house batteries (2 xTesla Powewall) when needed.

During the summer months, the batteries are programmed to only charge from the solar panels, not the grid (unless a storm is forecast). At the moment, our daily electricity cost is around the 70p to 90p including the daily charge, depending what we have programmed to go on during the off peak period, washing machine, dish-washer etc.

From what I have read and discussed with others, Octopus certainly seems to be a no brainer if you have a smart charger that works with their systems. At the moment, our "dumb" charger works perfectly well when the cars are programmed to charge from a set time during the cheap rate, so for now we will probably stick with Eon as that works for us!

 

[Jomarkh]

I'm on the british gas EV tariff which gives me 4p /kwh between midnight and 5.00am . I'm currently looking at a solar/battery set up with effective home but the sums are giving me a headache!

Hi, what EVSE (charge point) do you have.
If is compatible with IOG at 7p then you export will be 15p.
I charge car and House battery overnight and export as much as possible at 15p

 

[NickHeynes]

Yes it would be 15p
But I don't have the cash to buy solar outright so would need to finance over 5 years.
I retire in 7 and will be looking to downsize then so I don't think that the sums will add up .I think I'll only start saving over the last 2 years.

 

[Jomarkh]

Have you thought about just a house battery or what about an investment in a wind or solar farm?