A new electric vehicle (EV) charging offer will allow participating customers to use automated controls so that their vehicles are charged overnight during the times that provide the best value.
The benefits of smart charging see reduced grid pressure and lower consumption at carbon-intensive and grid-strained periods. EDF’s EV OptiCharge tariff trial will enable up to 300 existing customers to benefit from cheaper charging through the trial.
Customers set their charging preferences, such as the level of charge in the car and by what time in the day they need it charged, in a dedicated platform and the automated controls do the rest.
This is the second phase of the project, following a feasibility study that explored various offers. Customer feedback highlighted a desire for personalised advice and flexible tariffs, both of which are the “backbone” of phase two.
It is one of five trials and has been created and developed as part of a wider project by EDF’s research and development and customer teams, as part of the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero’s Alternative Energy Markets Innovation Programme. It is backed by £1.3m of funding from the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP).
Throughout the trial, EDF will gather data to gauge the impact of the initiative on customer bills and their usage. Loughborough University and the University of Sheffield will support the trial by carrying out qualitative and quantitative studies and providing insight into the tariff’s feasibility for optimising EV charging, to ensure it is aligned with low carbon generation and at the lowest cost to the customer.
Philippe Commaret, managing director of customers at EDF, said: “This trial is a brilliant example of the type of innovative solutions we’re exploring to help our customers to save cash and carbon.
“As an industry we must find ways to embed flexibility into the electricity system to reduce pressure on the grid and customers’ pockets. Trialling new tariffs such as OptiCharge will be vital if we are to help Britain achieve our net zero ambitions.”
Cost incentives not accessible to all
Demand-side flexibility is often incentivised by the cost savings that consumers can access by using less energy, at times of low demand. However, if and when energy prices regulate lower, it is likely that the savings incentive will be less attractive; easing the process will be critical to managing grid strain.
Jonty Haynes, principal analyst at Regen, recently spoke to Current± about the opportunity for demand side flexibility, saying: “It needs to be something that benefits consumers and the energy system and it probably needs to be something that is not people manually turning off their washing machine.”
EDF offers several tariffs for EV owners, launching what it said was the cheapest on the market at the end of June. The Evolve Sep25 electricity tariff gives users five hours of off-peak energy overnight for both their home and car, priced 10p lower than the standard variable tariff.
However, this is available only to those able to install at home chargers; those reliant on public charging not only miss out on offers like this one, but also pay 20% VAT, compared to just 5% charged on home charging.
