johnnyc
Established Member
This is a long read but it might help people who have an Electric Vehicle if they think the variable is their best or only option - Just been going through some figures for some mates to help them out with energy etc and it’s based on their rough usage (6500kwh/year -split between 3500 for charging and 3000 for everything else) and the following tariffs:
Their existing tariff (edf @13.67p/kWh) which ends very soon,
Staying on The standard variable
Octopus Go @ 7.5p/35p
EDF go electric 98 @ 20.65/41.81
EdF go electric 35 @ 4.5p/44.69p
Right…let’s see….
Usage - 6500 kWh
If we say driving is just over half of the usage - say 3500 kWh, that would leave 3000kwh for home use which would equate to about 8.2kwh a day.
Current EDF Fixed @ 13.6p
So with edf at a fixed rate of 13.6p - 6500kw x 13.6 = £884
884/6500kwh = 13.6p average unit cost
Standard Variable Tariff - capped at 28p until October (expected rise to be about 40p)
Standard variable until October is 28p/kWh so 5 months worth of electric would be roughly 2708 kWh so 28p x 2708kwh if we then look at the variable from October onwards (say 7 months) it’s looking to be 42% more expensive so - about 40p/kWh. So we will say 3792kwh @ 40p = £1516.8
Add those figures together and that’s
£1526.8+ £884 = £2400
£2400/6500 = 36.92p average unit cost.
Octopus Go
4 hours of cheap electric if we charge the car during this entire period - 3500 x 7.5p. If we can shift 3kwh of usage into this period too (low estimate for washing machine and dishwasher) and that’s 5 times a week that’ll work out at about 780 kWh (3kwh x 5 x 52). Which will leave 2200 kWh at the more expensive rate of about 35p.
Therefore:
(Car charging) 3500kwh x 7.5p = £262.5
(Washing machine & dishwasher shift) 780kwh x 7.5p = £58.50
(Everything else) 2200 x 35p - £770
Total on octopus go - £1091
1091/6500 = 16.78p average unit cost.
No fees to leave and will probably be on the variable gas tariff (or tracker gas which is interesting But there’s also the tracker tariff which is really interesting as it is priced at the next day wholesale price - at the moment it’s capped at 11p/kWh (which is obviously higher than the price cap at the moment), but recently (due to it being summer and usage is lower) it’s been between 2-6p/kWh…it may be worth going on that during the summer as theoretically it should be cheaper than the price cap tariff…then in October when demand is high, you’ll be protected by the 11p cap - which theoretically should be the same as the variable price cap.
Octopus Intelligent (if you have a tesla or compatible car)
2 Extra hours of the cheap price, so will work out cheaper than go does!
EDF Go 98
No point in me working out what the edf go 98 one will be - as the cheaper price (even though there is more time) is higher than the average price on Octopus Go - so you’ll never get it down as low as that. Even if you used 6499 kWh at the cheap rate on edf and 1 kWh on the more expensive rate - you’d be getting an average of 20.2 per unit. But it’s all about the averages and this average is probably going to be cheaper than the variable rate now, and definitely cheaper than the variable rate in October.
EDF Go Electric 35
Car charging) 3500kwh x 4.5p = 157.5
(Washing machine & dishwasher shift) 780kwh x 4.5p = £35.1
(Everything else) 2200 x 44.69p - £983.18
Total on EDF Go Electric 35 - £1,175.78
£1,175.78/6500 = 18p average unit cost.
But you’ll have exit fees to pay if you want to leave early and will have to take the high gas tariff which is 13p/kWh at the moment.
Figures above are charging the car twice a week roughly (maybe a little more than twice a week) about 67kwh a week so, maybe 10 hours of charging as opposed to 8, the more you charge the car though (or put more into the cheap time) the lower your average price per kWh becomes ?
If you don’t load shift anything and only charge the car during the cheap times on octopus (so keep your washing machine on during the day time etc) total cost would be about:
3500kwh x 7.5p - £262.5
3000kwh x 35p - £1050
Total without switching washing machine (no load shifting) to cheap time on octopus go - £1312.50
Average price per kWh is therefore 20.19p - and if you applied this (no load shifting) to the other tariffs, octopus would be a little lower than edf Go Electric 35, way lower than edf 98, way lower than the price cap now, and half the price of the price cap in October!!! ???
Standing Charge added on
Variable = 45p x 365 = + £164.25
Octopus Go = 47.84p x365 = + £174.62
Edf 98 = 48.23p x365 = + £176
Edf 35 = 48.23p x365 = + £176
It’s all Back of fag packet calculations - but it’s a good starting point for anyone who is thinking that staying on the variable is the cheapest option for them if they have an EV.
Obviously it all depends on usage and these figures won’t necessarily be indicative of your own usage - but I thought it was worth putting out there as some people get scared by the high day prices of the time of use tariffs and think they are better off on the variable as it’s a lower price. As I said this won’t suit everyone as everyone’s usage is different - but hopefully it might help one or two!
It’s always worth doing your own calculations!!
The sharing of referral codes in the forum is banned (which is absolutely the correct decision by admin), but if you think that octopus is the better tariff for you, and you did want a refferal code (to get £50 free credit), mine is below in my signature - and if you’re reading this on mobile and can’t see my signature - you can always PM me! ?
Their existing tariff (edf @13.67p/kWh) which ends very soon,
Staying on The standard variable
Octopus Go @ 7.5p/35p
EDF go electric 98 @ 20.65/41.81
EdF go electric 35 @ 4.5p/44.69p
Right…let’s see….
Usage - 6500 kWh
If we say driving is just over half of the usage - say 3500 kWh, that would leave 3000kwh for home use which would equate to about 8.2kwh a day.
Current EDF Fixed @ 13.6p
So with edf at a fixed rate of 13.6p - 6500kw x 13.6 = £884
884/6500kwh = 13.6p average unit cost
Standard Variable Tariff - capped at 28p until October (expected rise to be about 40p)
Standard variable until October is 28p/kWh so 5 months worth of electric would be roughly 2708 kWh so 28p x 2708kwh if we then look at the variable from October onwards (say 7 months) it’s looking to be 42% more expensive so - about 40p/kWh. So we will say 3792kwh @ 40p = £1516.8
Add those figures together and that’s
£1526.8+ £884 = £2400
£2400/6500 = 36.92p average unit cost.
Octopus Go
4 hours of cheap electric if we charge the car during this entire period - 3500 x 7.5p. If we can shift 3kwh of usage into this period too (low estimate for washing machine and dishwasher) and that’s 5 times a week that’ll work out at about 780 kWh (3kwh x 5 x 52). Which will leave 2200 kWh at the more expensive rate of about 35p.
Therefore:
(Car charging) 3500kwh x 7.5p = £262.5
(Washing machine & dishwasher shift) 780kwh x 7.5p = £58.50
(Everything else) 2200 x 35p - £770
Total on octopus go - £1091
1091/6500 = 16.78p average unit cost.
No fees to leave and will probably be on the variable gas tariff (or tracker gas which is interesting But there’s also the tracker tariff which is really interesting as it is priced at the next day wholesale price - at the moment it’s capped at 11p/kWh (which is obviously higher than the price cap at the moment), but recently (due to it being summer and usage is lower) it’s been between 2-6p/kWh…it may be worth going on that during the summer as theoretically it should be cheaper than the price cap tariff…then in October when demand is high, you’ll be protected by the 11p cap - which theoretically should be the same as the variable price cap.
Octopus Intelligent (if you have a tesla or compatible car)
2 Extra hours of the cheap price, so will work out cheaper than go does!
EDF Go 98
No point in me working out what the edf go 98 one will be - as the cheaper price (even though there is more time) is higher than the average price on Octopus Go - so you’ll never get it down as low as that. Even if you used 6499 kWh at the cheap rate on edf and 1 kWh on the more expensive rate - you’d be getting an average of 20.2 per unit. But it’s all about the averages and this average is probably going to be cheaper than the variable rate now, and definitely cheaper than the variable rate in October.
EDF Go Electric 35
Car charging) 3500kwh x 4.5p = 157.5
(Washing machine & dishwasher shift) 780kwh x 4.5p = £35.1
(Everything else) 2200 x 44.69p - £983.18
Total on EDF Go Electric 35 - £1,175.78
£1,175.78/6500 = 18p average unit cost.
But you’ll have exit fees to pay if you want to leave early and will have to take the high gas tariff which is 13p/kWh at the moment.
Figures above are charging the car twice a week roughly (maybe a little more than twice a week) about 67kwh a week so, maybe 10 hours of charging as opposed to 8, the more you charge the car though (or put more into the cheap time) the lower your average price per kWh becomes ?
If you don’t load shift anything and only charge the car during the cheap times on octopus (so keep your washing machine on during the day time etc) total cost would be about:
3500kwh x 7.5p - £262.5
3000kwh x 35p - £1050
Total without switching washing machine (no load shifting) to cheap time on octopus go - £1312.50
Average price per kWh is therefore 20.19p - and if you applied this (no load shifting) to the other tariffs, octopus would be a little lower than edf Go Electric 35, way lower than edf 98, way lower than the price cap now, and half the price of the price cap in October!!! ???
Standing Charge added on
Variable = 45p x 365 = + £164.25
Octopus Go = 47.84p x365 = + £174.62
Edf 98 = 48.23p x365 = + £176
Edf 35 = 48.23p x365 = + £176
It’s all Back of fag packet calculations - but it’s a good starting point for anyone who is thinking that staying on the variable is the cheapest option for them if they have an EV.
Obviously it all depends on usage and these figures won’t necessarily be indicative of your own usage - but I thought it was worth putting out there as some people get scared by the high day prices of the time of use tariffs and think they are better off on the variable as it’s a lower price. As I said this won’t suit everyone as everyone’s usage is different - but hopefully it might help one or two!
It’s always worth doing your own calculations!!The sharing of referral codes in the forum is banned (which is absolutely the correct decision by admin), but if you think that octopus is the better tariff for you, and you did want a refferal code (to get £50 free credit), mine is below in my signature - and if you’re reading this on mobile and can’t see my signature - you can always PM me! ?
Last edited:
