Octopus Energy has announced a number of initiatives to support EV drivers, including a new 15p per kWh export tariff, and a community energy EV charging partnership with Co Charger.
Octopus EV is partnering with Co Charger to “unlock the potential of community charging”, by making it easier for people with private home chargers to share them with neighbours who cannot install them.
Octopus, who also announced that it delivered its 10,000th EV last week, aims to enable households with an EV and solar panels to earn an additional £150 by combining the ‘Intelligent Octopus’ and ‘Outgoing Octopus’ tariffs.
[1/2]🍃Last week we delivered our 10,000th EV, this means our electric cars are now saving 17,500 tonnes of CO2 each year from going into the atmosphere!
— Octopus Electric Vehicles (@OctopusEV) September 7, 2023
✈️ That’s the same as saving CO2 from over 10,000 people flying from London to New York and back. How incredible is that? pic.twitter.com/4wPCII9Umv
The new tariff is the “highest paying fixed export tariff on the market that is open to all exporting households”, according to Octopus. Standard export tariffs are 5p per kWh.
In September 2022, Octopus announced that customers on its ‘Fixed Outgoing’ tariff would see an increase in payments from 7.5p/kWh to 15p/kWh. Intelligent Octopus tariff customers were previously unable to get this export rate. Octopus confirmed on X/Twitter that “Intelligent customers can now be on either Fixed or Agile Outgoing.”
However, the increased export rate is not being extended to Octopus Go tariff customers. Octopus said that “The combination is possible for Intelligent Octopus users because the smart charging they’ve enabled means we can unlock extra savings (and help balance the energy grid even more) by using their car charging demand flexibly. This isn’t the case for Octopus Go and is part of why we can’t extend it to Go users.”
Octopus EV’s partnership with Co Charger will allow EV drivers to join the service as Hosts, and the company says that some hosts will be able to earn up to £1,000 a year by sharing their home chargers with other EV drivers.
An average household with an EV and solar panels will be able to earn an additional £150 a year from its upgraded tariff, according to Octopus. Customers who have combined their Intelligent Octopus tariff with Octopus’ Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) for exporting power will automatically get upgraded to ‘Outgoing Octopus’.
Octopus recently announced that it would no longer require an MCS accredited installer to verify installations that qualify for their Smart Export Guarantee.
Around 4,000 Octopus customers will benefit from the higher tariff payments, with an increased fixed rate of 15p per kWh of electricity they export, rather than 4.1p per kWh on the SEG. The switch will happen automatically this week, with all affected customers being notified by email, Octopus said.
The company said it had seen a “significant jump” in solar export customers, which had doubled in the past year.
Alex Schoch, head of flexibility at Octopus Energy, said: “You’ll be hard pressed to drive down a residential road in the UK without seeing solar panels or an electric vehicle, and we’re keen to pass on the savings of adopting this clean, green tech for customers. We’re thrilled to be able to help cut conscientious customers’ bills by more than £150, while encouraging others to become their own renewable energy generator at the same time. The more products like these that help to balance the grid, the more we can bring down bills for everyone.”
On the company’s partnership with Co Charger, head of propositions at Octopus EV, Natalia Peralta Silverstone said “Co Charger is helping to plug the gap for those who don’t have access to cheap charging from their own driveway. Instead, we can create an army of EV drivers to rent out their charger – providing another charging option while earning some cash.”
Last week it was revealed that Octopus Energy had signed a deal with Impello Limited (Shell) to buy Shell Energy UK and Germany, subject to regulatory approval.
The company is expanding rapidly in the UK and overseas, having been the fourth biggest UK energy supplier in September 2022, but now having climbed to second biggest.
This article first appeared on Current±’s sister publication Solar Power Portal.
