Research EV Tariffs – It could save you hundreds of pounds a year!
If you are buying an electric vehicle or already have one, in my opinion, the most important thing you need to research is how you will charge your EV.
So many dealers sell electric vehicles without fully explaining how finding an off-peak tariff can drastically reduce the running cost of your electric vehicle.
@sarah_go_green When you buy a new EV the most important thing to get sorted is an off-peak rate for home charging! #octopusenergy #evtariff #evhokecharging #newev ♬ original sound – sarah_go_green
My neighbour recent bought an EV and commented how expensive he was finding home charging. After a conversation, I realised he was just charging his EV using his regular tariff. If you have a driveway or a way to plug in at home switching to an electric vehicle tariff can save you hundreds of pounds a year.
Some basic maths on EV charging.
An electric vehicle has a battery that powers it. Not all electric vehicle batteries are the same size. The battery capacity is measured in kWh. A Nissan leaf can hold 40 kWh, a Mini 32.6 kWh and a Tesla Model Y 75 kWh.
1 kWh can provide around 4 miles of driving.
If we take the Tesla Model Y. A typical rapid charger at the EV charging point on the motorway will current charge around 48p per kWh.
75 kWh x 0.48p = £33.75 to fully charge the Tesla Model Y at a motorway rapid charger.
If you have a home charger or even use the 3-pin plug charger that comes with your EV you can charge your electric vehicle off-peak for much less. Octopus Energy currently has 2 smart tariffs that offer an off-peak tariff for EV owners. They are Octopus Go and Intelligent Octopus. (There is also a variation on the Go tariff called Go Faster) These both offer an off-peak rate of 7.5p per kWh.
75 kWh x 0.75 = £5.63 to fully charge a Tesla Model Y at home. The only downside is that it is slower than a rapid charger so you may have to do it over more than one evening. I tend to keep mine topped up to 80% and just add an extra few miles every night. It is, however, a massive saving over the course of a year.
Do you need a home charger?
A home charger is helpful as you can get 7 kW into your EV battery in an hour. The 3-pin plug gives you around 2 kW in an hour so it is much slower. I have recently been using a 3-pin plug to charge at home and as I wasn’t doing many miles a day worked out fine BUT this was while my home charger was being fixed. I much prefer my home charger for the speed and the safety element.
Using an EV repaid charger is still cheaper than petrol.
If you don’t have the space to charge at home then don’t worry as charging an EV is still cheaper than filling up at the pump and is better for the planet. Plus you can always grab a free charge using a kWh EV charger that Tesco!!
