Octopus Energy plans to offer free charging to customers with an electric vehicle (EV), through its new vehicle-to-grid (V2G) tariff.
V2G technology allows electric vehicles to discharge electricity stored in their battery back to the grid, as well as charge batteries using grid electricity. Basically, it allows a two-way flow of electricity.
The tariff Octopus Energy will be offering, called Octopus Power Pack, uses V2G technology and Octopus’s tech platform, Kraken, to charge your EV during off-peak times, and export electricity from the car back to the grid during peak hours.
It works as a ‘bolt-on’, which means that the EV tariff operates alongside each customer’s existing import tariff, and separates EV charging from the rest of the home’s electricity usage. Octopus also notes that their new EV tariff can be stacked on top of Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) payments for solar generation.
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According to Octopus, the Power Pack tariff for EVs could save the average electric car owner £850 in charging costs, when compared to a standard variable tariff.
Alex Schoch, Head of Flexibility at Octopus Energy, had this to say on the new tariff:
“EVs are going to be a major lever in our future flexible, green grid, but to get there we need to unlock the capabilities of their batteries. Now we have Octopus Power Pack, it’s over to car manufacturers to build the cars that are compatible with V2G technology.”
Octopus Energy is marketing itself as the leading UK energy supplier for customers with green tech, such as residential solar panels, heat pumps, and EVs.
It already has two EV optimised energy tariffs, Intelligent Octopus Go and Octopus Go, which, according to Octopus, have a combined 200,000 customers, making up a fifth of UK electric car drivers.
Octopus recently announced that it would be partnering with the National to speed up heat pump installations, and the company also has the best SEG rates on the market for its own customers exporting electricity from their solar panels back to the grid.
Who can access free EV charging with the Octopus Power Pack tariff?
To access Octopus’s Power Pack tariff, drivers need to have V2G compatible cars and chargers.
Unfortunately, there aren’t currently many EV models that have V2G charging. As things stand, Octopus Power Pack is only compatible with a Wallbox Quasar 1 V2G charger, and Nissan Leaf, Nissan e-NV200, or Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV car models.
Octopus is promising to make the tariff compatible with more technology soon. The energy supplier cites car manufacturer Volvo as an example, which has committed to releasing new V2G-ready models in the near future.
Additionally, EV drivers need to plug in their car for around 6 hours a day, or around 170 hours each month, to access free charging through Octopus Power Pack. They must also not exceed a usage limit of 333 kilowatt hours per month – the equivalent of driving 12,000 miles a year.
Octopus has stated that there’s some wiggle room when it comes to their plug-in time and charging targets, but that if customers systematically miss them, they’ll be taken off the Power Pack tariff.
