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Intelligent Octopus Go Tariff
The Intelligent Octopus Go tariff is an electricty tariff specifically designed for Octopus Energy EV users, guaranteeing significant savings on your energy bill. As an end user of this tariff since early 2022, I will share a comprehensive review of my experience with Intelligent Octopus Go.
- Six hours of cheap, green energy from 11.30 pm to 5.30 am every night at 7.0p per kWh.
- It is perfect for loading shifting (using appliances at night) and charging a home battery.
- Plug in your EV and set how much charge you’d like and by when using the Octopus app and Octopus will take care of the rest.
- Reduce your carbon footprint and use more energy off-peak.
Octopus Intelligent Go is easy to use and is one of the most popular EV tariffs in the UK but is it worth switching to?
Written by Sarah Chambers
Intelligent Octopus Go Review 2024.
Owning an Electric Vehicle and charging it at home on a standard electricity tariff can save you money compared to fueling a petrol or diesel car at the pump. However, switching to a dedicated EV tariff such as Intelligent Octopus Go could potentially save you even more money.
I have saved a lot on my fuel bills with Intelligent Octopus Go and have been a happy Octopus Energy customer for 6 years.
The Intelligent Octopus Go tariff will be reduced in price on the 1st of July 2024. The Octopus Go off-peak rate will reduce from 7.5p per kWh to 7p per kWh off-peak. The daytime rate will also be reduced from the 1st July 2024 but sadly the standing charge remain unchanged.
Advantages of Intelligent Octopus Go;
- Hassle-free EV charging at roughly 2p per mile.
- Provides 6 hours of off-peak electricty every night for both the home and EV charging.
- Decrease your environmental impact.
- Make your home energy work smarter for you and the planet.🌍
- Reduce your overall energy bill. It is anticipated that you could save around £600 compared to a standard tariff.
- Compatible with solar, battery storage and other green technology.
- It can combined with all Octopus Export tariffs. (You can even charge your home battery at 7.0p per kWh and export at 15p per kWh!)
Dissadavatges of Intelligent Octopus Go.
- You will need either a compatible Electric Vehicle or EV charger to be eligible for this tariff.
About the author: I’ve been a happy Octopus Energy customer for 6 years.
This is me. I can be found on social media as Sarah_Go_Green and I have been an Octopus customer for 6 years. I’m featured on the Octopus website and their YouTube channel as a solar customer. I’ve been on the BBC news, published in the Telegraph for owning part of a wind turbine.
Recently I’ve been in Bloomberg simply for being an energy geek. I love renewable energy and make it my mission to reduce my family’s home energy bills while improving our carbon footprint. I’ve got around 7,000 followers across X and TikTok where I talk about electrifying my home and reducing my Octopus energy bill. I can help you too!
My home set up using Intelligent Octopus Go.
Just as background I own;
- Tesla Model Y
- EV Charger – MyEnergi Zappi v2.
- GivEnergy All-In-One 13.5 kWh battery
- 6.1 kW solar array.
I am home all day with my 3 children. My solar panels and a 13.5 kWh GivEnergy battery were installed in my home in October 2023. Both with and without battery storage Octopus Intelligent Go has saved me hundreds of pounds over the last 2 years compared to a standard energy tariff. If you add in the savings of not fueling from diesel it’s an even bigger saving.
(If you are interested in how solar and battery storage can integrate with Octopus Intelligent Go scroll down to the lower part of this page.)
EV Home charging expectations – Is it worth switching tariffs to Intelligent Octopus Go?
I have been on the Intelligent Octopus Go Tariff for 2 years. When I bought my EV as well as driving electric to help the environment I also wanted cheaper, greener charging options at home.
The issue is the National Grid was built and is based on providing us with energy on demand. That may be ok for switching on a light switch but an EV requires a lot more electricity to charge at home. Some will argue that the grid can’t cope with the demands put on it by EV owners but it can. We just need to think about how and when we use energy and adapt accordingly.
- Octopus Kraken software can take the hassle out of deciding when is the greenest time to charge your EV.
- After you have switched to Intelligent Octopus Go all you need to do is plug in and leave the rest to Octopus’ software.
The Octopus daytime rate is higher than traditional tariffs but even as a stay-at-home mum I still make big savings on my energy bill on Intelligent Octopus Go. I can’t avoid using energy during the day as I am at home with the kids but I make the most of my 6 hours of off-peak electricty at night which significantly lowers my average price per kWh.
How exactly does Intelligent Octopus Go work?
Octopus Energy will connect to your EV or EV charging equipment through the Octopus app. After completing the initial set up it’s all relatively straightforward.
- Plug your EV in and tell the app when you need your EV next and the percentage of charge you require.
- If you are all set to charge before 5 pm Octopus will tell you your charge schedule around 5 pm. This will appear in the Octopus app.
- If you plug in after 5 pm a schedule will be created at this time.
The great thing about this tariff is that if Octopus decides to schedule your charge before the 11.30 pm off-peak time you will get these time slots at the off-peak rate of 7.0p per kWh too. The same rate is also applied to any other electricity used within the home during these times!👏
While your EV is plugged in Octopus will make sure you charge when electricity is at its cheapest, and greenest on the national grid.
You can bump start charging from the app if you need to charge during the day. (This will be at the standard electricity price rather than off-peak)
How much can you save on Intelligent Octopus Go?
I own a Tesla Model Y Long Range. If I drive 10,400 miles a year that would cost me very roughly £702 charging at home based on the current Energy Price Cap. Whilst on Intelligent Octopus Go the same 10,400 miles would cost roughly £195. (I have used the calculation of 4 miles per kWh) That is a saving of £507 before you take into account home energy use at the discounted rate too!! Imagine how much that would cost you in diesel!
There are six hours off-peak at 7.0p per kWh available for your home every night. Between 11.30 pm and 5.30 pm, you can set your dishwasher, and washing machine or if you are comfortable your tumble dyer to come on.
If you have a home battery then the savings are blown out of the water even further. I charge my 13.5kWh All In One, GivEnergy battery every night during the off-peak period. When I wake up only is my EV charged and ready to go but I have enough off-peak electricty to last me most of the day.
Charging your EV, home battery and using appliances all off-peak at night is allowed under the terms of the Intelligent Octopus Go tariff.
Even though this is an Octopus EV tariff it is also a wonderful opportunity to reduce your overall energy bill as well as your driving costs! You can’t do that on Ovo Charge Anytime which is restricted to only EV charging.
Intelligent Octopus Go and Octopus Energy Greener Day Forecasts.
You can now use the Octopus Greener Day forecasts to decide which day to plug in your EV. 
If you want to live sustainably the Octopus new live forecast shows you the greenest days to use power. It’s updated every Monday and Thursday.
Octopus does all it can to help EV owners charge on the greenest energy. Intelligent Go is more than a time-of-use tariff. It is an intelligent tariff that can help you use excess energy when it is in abundance. You choose when to plug in and Octopus will make sure you charge your EV at a time that puts the least stress on the National Grid.
Octopus can turn your EV charger off and on remotely. All you need to do is plug in, select the percentage of charge you need and by when and Octopus will take care of the rest.
How much does the Octopus Intelligent Go Tariff cost per kWh?
The Intelligent Octopus Go tariff, like Octopus Go, provides an off-peak tariff for charging your EV charging at night.
The Intelligent Octopus tariff rates are cheaper than on Octopus Go (7.0p vs 8.5p) and the off-peak window lasts for longer at six hours versus five on Go.
- 7.0p per kWh for electricity between 11.30 pm and 5.30 am every night regardless if you charge your EV or not.
- Plus additional off-peak slots if Octopus decides to charge your Electric Vehicle earlier because it’s greener for the grid. (These additional slots also cover the rest of the house.)
- 23.59 per kWh any other time.
The daytime rate may vary depending on your geographical location but they are the same on both Intelligent Octopus Go and Octopus Go. The day rate is based on South Wales. You can find out the rates for Intelligent Octopus Go for your area by entering your postcode. Just remember the day rate and standing charge will change from 1st July 2024. I have quoted the new rates throughout this review.
The 6 hours of core off-peak electricity on Intelligent Octopus Go are available between 11.30 pm and 5.30 am 365 days of the year. This does NOT change and the whole house gets the discounted rate too. If you have a home battery you can quite easily fill it up during the 6 off-peak hours available.
Which Electric Vehicles or Electric Vehicle chargers are compatible with Intelligent Octopus Go?
Intelligent Octopus Go is compatible with 280 Electric Vehicles and more are being added.
Octopus Intelligent Go is also compatible with some EV chargers and in this instance, it doesn’t matter which car you have as Intelligent Octopus Go is controlling your EV charger rather than your EV.
As an example, I have a MyEnergi Zappy EV charger which is compatible with Intelligent Octopus Go. I could choose to connect either my Tesla to Octopus or my Zappi. Octopus sets a schedule and remotely accesses that device to switch it off and on to complete a charge.
You can check if your EV or EV charger is compatible with Intelligent Octopus Go on the Octopus website. It takes 30 seconds or less.
You simply need to answer two questions to find out if your EV or EV charger is compatible with Intelligent Octopus Go.
- What electric vehicle do you have?
- What EV charger do you have?
You’ll then need to confirm you own an iPhone on iOS 7 or higher or a device with Android 7 or above and have a working smart meter.
If you own an Ohme EV charger they set out this really thorough guide to integrating Intelligent Octopus Go with your charger.
How do you switch to Octopus Intelligent Tariff?
If you’re not yet an Octopus customer, switch to their standard tariff, Flexible Octopus, now and you can move to Intelligent Octopus Go once your switch is complete.
You’ll need a smart meter we can connect and Octopus will need to check that they are received half hourly readings.
Do I need to get all my family to switch their energy use to benefit from Octopus Intelligent Go?
In a recent survey by Ofgem, most electric vehicle owners stated that they hadn’t made any changes to how they use their electricity at home. The assumption seemed to be that to fully benefit from the switch to an intelligent tariff the whole household needs to modify their energy use. 🤯 With Octopus Intelligent Go this isn’t the case! Even if your kids don’t act that intelligently sometimes 😂
1st July 2024
Octopus Flexible Tariff -Eco7 average price (Electricity) 01/07/2024 to 30/09/2024 Intelligent Octopus Go Tariff. (Electricity) From 01/07/24
27.53p per kWh 23.59p per kWh (05.30 - 00.30)
11.90p per kWh off-peak Eco 7. 7.0p per kWh off-peak. (23.30 - 05.30)
60.73p per day Standing Charge 61.19p per day Standing charge.
🌟🎉🥁🚘 #winner
The numbers speak for themselves. The Octopus Intelligent Go tariff with its 7.5p slot is just unbeatable! 🎄🤶🏻
What’s the catch – 6 hours plus of electricity at 7.0p per kWh for charging your electric vehicle?🙋♀️
Well, there is a catch with the Intelligent Octopus Go tariff. You will have to tick all the boxes to get on this beta tariff. You will need either a compatible EV OR a compatible EV charger plus any device that can run the Octopus iOS or Andriod app but the list is constantly being updated. It is an amazing deal that will allow you to charge your EV at the cheapest and greenest times simply by plugging it in at home.
I recently met with Alex who is the head of the Intelligent Octopus Go tariff at Octopus and he explained to me how and when additional EVs and EV chargers will be added to the list of those eligible for the tariff. I am quite active on Twitter and took forward some questions that people wanted to know about in terms of eligibility.
The main thing to remember is this is an evolving tariff which will only get better as time goes on. As EV sales ramp up we need innovators like Octopus to help us fuel our vehicles in the greenest and cheapest way possible.
@sarah_go_green #intelligentoctopusgo #intelligentoctopustariff #myenergi #ohme #octopusenergy #evtariffs #v2g ♬ original sound – sarah_go_green
How Octopus Energy can help support customers on their electrification journey.
The last 2 years have been unprecedented for energy prices. Prices are still much higher than before the crisis but Octopus has maintained cheap overnight charging for EV owners and for that, I am very grateful.
With Intelligent Octopus Go you can hustle and load and shift lots of your appliances to the off-peak rate but you can’t avoid using electricity in the day unless, of course, you have solar or battery storage.
If you have battery storage Intelligent Octopus Go will help not only store energy when it’s greener at night but will radically reduce the payback period for your home battery. If you expand the green tech you have at home Octopus smart tariffs can grow and change with you, even on a seasonal basis. Octopus has it all covered from EV charging, solar and battery storage to heat pumps.
Now is a great time to switch to Octopus if you have a smart meter and want to sign up for one of the Octopus smart tariffs like Octopus Go or Intelligent Octopus Go. Where else will you get 7.0p a kWh? As a new customer, you can’t sign up for a smart tariff on the Octopus website. You’ll have to switch to an interim tariff first, which is the Octopus Flexible tariff.
Existing Octopus Energy customers can also switch to the Intelligent Go tariff via the Octopus IOS or Andriod app.
How do you login to Intelligent Octopus Go? Is there a specific Intelligent Octopus App?
When you switch to the Intelligent Go tariff you’ll be asked to run a test charge in the Octopus Energy IOS app or Andriod App. As soon as the test is successfully completed, which takes around 7 minutes, an extra icon will appear at the bottom of the Octopus Energy app labelled “devices”.
When you are logged into the Octopus Energy App you will see the devices icon at the bottom of the screen. There is no separate login for Intelligent Octopus Go.
After clicking the devices tab you can set your charging requirements i.e. how much charge you need and by when. After 5 pm your charging schedule will be displayed on this page.
Can I still switch to the Octopus Intelligent Go Tariff if I have two electric vehicles?
Yes, you can still switch to the Octopus Intelligent Go tariff if you have two electric vehicles BUT you only charge one using smart charging if Octopus connects to the vehicle. The other you simply charge during the off-peak window which is 11.30 pm to 5.30 am the same as you would do, as an example, on Octopus Go. However, if Octopus are controlling your EV charger which car you plug in makes no difference.
You’re welcome to charge 2 cars at the same time on Intelligent Octopus too, but we’ll only be able to smart charge one of them, and so the other would need to be manually set up to charge during the off peak hours. We’re a DM away if we can help. 🐙⚡https://t.co/mdLjkMMxIf
— Octopus Energy (@OctopusEnergy) January 10, 2023
What if I want to plug in my EV and just get it charged as quickly as possible?
Octopus has this under control too. You can schedule a Bump Charge through the Intelligent Octopus Go app, which will start the car charging immediately. For this, you will be charged the unit rate at the time. If it’s during your off-peak window you will be charged 7.5p kWh for Bump Charging or your local day unit rate outside of these hours.
How do you get additional off-peak EV charging on Intelligent Octopus Go?
By linking your Electric Vehicle or your EV charger to the Intelligence Octopus Go app you could get even more hours discounted at the off-peak rate. The 6 hours of off-peak charging between 11.30 pm and 5.30 am are just the guaranteed off-peak hours.
The Intelligent Octopus Go app works out when energy is at the cheapest and greenest and if that’s outside your off-peak window it will ask your EV or EV charger to charge then BUT only charge you 7.0p per kWh!
If you get additional slots for EV charging outside the off-peak period you will also retain your 6 off-peak hours so you can use appliances such as the dishwasher or washing machine at 7.0p per kWh too. It’s a win for the planet and your pocket!!
Note: If you own an Ohme EV charger these extra slots aren’t viable even though you get them. It is something that I understand is being worked on.
Is there an Octopus Intelligent Gas Tariff?
No, the Octopus Intelligent Go tariff is simply for your electricity but you can pick a standard Octopus gas Tariff to sit alongside your Intelligent electricity tariff. The Octopus flexible tariff is capped by the Energy Price Guarantee and so would be an ideal interim tariff.
