Octopus Energy ramps up electric car charging costs

A silver electric car parked at a charging station next to a blue truck, with a city skyline in the background.

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

h/t Philip Bratby

Oh dear!

From the Telegraph:

Headline from the Telegraph: 'Octopus Energy ramps up electric car charging costs' by James Titcomb.

Britain’s biggest energy provider is raising the cost of charging electric cars in a fresh blow to drivers.

Octopus Energy said it will restrict its cut-price electric vehicle (EV) tariff from the new year, in a move that could cost some drivers hundreds of pounds annually.

It comes amid rising household electricity prices and as EV owners face new taxes that have put the Government’s net zero targets under pressure.

Octopus’s Intelligent Go tariff is Britain’s most popular EV plan, used by 260,000 drivers – or more than one in 10 EV owners. It allows motorists to enjoy cheap household energy when their car is charging, significantly cutting the cost of running an electric vehicle.

However, the company has written to customers telling them that discounted charging will be limited to six hours a day from January.

Limiting use of cheap charging rates is likely to drive up energy bills, since motorists will pay peak rates roughly four times higher when they wish to charge their car for longer periods.

Full story here.

The whole EV tariff is a big con anyway. What you save on night time EV charging is lost through higher day tariffs.

The EV tariff is set at 8.5/kWh between 0.30 and 5.30 am, based on the typical Octopus Go package. My standard rate is 23.45p/kWh, so ostensibly I could save about £300 on charging an EV.

However, the Octopus Go rate for the rest of the day is 29.37p/kWh. Based on my current usage, I would have to pay an extra £285 pa. Standing charges are also £17 higher with Octopus Go.

Of course, if you need a full charge for your EV, it would take longer than five hours, incurring yet more cost.

The only way I could save money is if I switched loads of appliances on after midnight.


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