Octopus Energy has partnered with Chinese EV giant BYD to offer the UK’s first vehicle-to-grid (V2G) bundle offering ‘free’ home charging.
The Power Pack Bundle, which will have a monthly price under £300 (though an exact figure is not confirmed, and subject to change under leasing conditions), builds on Octopus Energy’s V2G tariff Octopus Power Pack, launched in 2024.
The bundle offer includes a leased BYD Dolphin, which has built-in V2G capability, a bi-directional Zaptec Pro EV charger and a home electricity tariff that means drivers do not have to pay for charging.
The tariff is possible because of how V2G enables power stored in an EV battery to be sold back onto the grid. Octopus Energy Group’s tech platform, Kraken, will be used to automate EV charging at times when electricity is cheap and sell it back to the grid when needed; drivers are required to plug in their vehicles overnight.
Founder of the Octopus Energy Group Greg Jackson explained: “Bi-directional charging is the game-changer for drivers and the grid. By using some of the battery’s spare capacity to help balance the grid, we can offer free driving.”
Launching the offer at the Octopus Energy Tech Summit in London, Jackson said that customers that plug in their EV about 20 times a monthly, for 12 hours at a time, will benefit from electricity that is essentially free.
Octopus and BYD have also partnered with Motability Operations, the UK’s largest leasing company, to make the V2G technology available to disabled people across the country, ensuring low-cost electric driving is accessible to all.
Stella Li, executive vice president of BYD, said the project will allow customers to unlock the “full potential” of EVs – “not just as transport but as dynamic assets that can play a key role in supporting the grid.”
According to Zaptec, its involvement in the project “could go down as one of the most significant milestones in Zaptec’s history”.
The bundle will be available later this year, according to Octopus. Notably, the launch will go straight to commercial availability, opposed to other V2G offerings that have launched only as pilots previously.
Simon Smith, chief commercial officer of public chargepoint network operator InstaVolt commented: “Deals like this from Octopus are clearly designed to help everyone reap the benefits of electric vehicles. The more EVs there are on the UK roads the better not only for the growth economies of the future, but also clean air for all.”
Others across the industry weighed in on the good news, with founder of EV campaign group FairCharge Quentin Wilson calling the new offer “unprecedented,” adding: “Traditional car makers should look at this clever affordable mobility solution and see the future.”
Dan Caesar of NGO Electric Vehicles UK said the “bidirectional tie-up” is “the perfect example of how the electric vehicle offering will become increasingly irresistible over the coming months and years.”
V2G tariff trends
The bundle offer is the first of is kind in the UK and the second worldwide: In October 2024, the Mobility House, together with Renault Group and Mobilize Power launched a free V2G charging rate in France.
Available using a Renault 5 and the Alpine A290, the PowerBox Verso AC charging station, and the Mobilize Power electricity contract, the offer is due to be available in Germany once relevant legislation to support V2G is passed.
At the time of launch, the companies said it would likely be ready for the UK in 2025.
There are several key similarities between the two offers. Both require a ‘closed’ system—use a single energy provider, a single EV charger model and are for a specific car. While the technology remains so new, interoperability is not yet possible, particularly in meeting what V2G standards are currently available.
In both systems, an AC charger and onboard inverter are used. While AC charging is slower than DC, bidirectional AC chargers tend to be much cheaper. This has been seen in the V2VNY (Vehicle 2 Volume eNergy Yield) project, trialling lower cost V2G chargers for fleets.
Another cost-cutting element of the Mobility House and the Octopus offers is the vehicle model: both cars included in the tariffs are cheap models (relative to other EVs on the market) rather than luxury vehicles.
In the Octopus offer, because it leases the vehicles through Octopus EV for three years at a time, it will be interesting to see how the cost is affected when renewals come in and secondhand BYD models might become available.
