EV owners can now charge at home for FREE as 1million drivers switch to electric – but there’s a catch
AN ENERGY company has announced a new tariff that will allow EV owners to charge their cars for FREE.
However, there is a catch with only certain models able to use the exclusive deal.
As EV ownership continues to soar in the UK, with over million electric motors now on roads up and down the country, Octopus Energy have announced their Octopus Power Pack – a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) home charge tariff allowing EV owners to supply energy stored in the battery pack back to the grid.
It’s claimed that the new tariff is available to more than 200,000 customers with an electric car, but not all models have the necessary V2G technology fitted.
Currently, only a small number of EVs are fitted with V2G technology – including the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi Outlander.
Octopus Energy said that motorists on this tariff should plug their EV into the home charger for about six hours each day, with the charger then able to run during off-peak times and provide extra energy back to the grid when needed.
Electric car owners can join the tariff via the Octopus Energy website – with the company stating it can help customers save £880 a year.
Alex Schoch, Head of Flexibility at Octopus, said: “We recently moved past a million EVs on UK roads – a major milestone – but their true power for storing energy remains untapped.
“Once we reach 10 million electric cars on the road, we’ll have enough storage to power the entirety of Great Britain during peak times.
“All our drivers have to do is plug in regularly and their charging is completely free.”
Alex did also call for more companies to implement compatible technology into their models, allowing for a wider range of EV owners to benefit from the new tariff.
He said: “EVs are going to be a major lever in our future flexible, green gride, but to get there we need to unlock the capabilities of their batteries.
“Now we have Octopus Power Pack, it’s over to car manufacturers to build the cars that are compatible with V2G technology.”
Elsewhere, Wheeler Dealers host Mike Brewer is looking to save an abandoned Porsche after it was discovered in somebody’s garden.
What you'll need to join Octopus Power Pack: the UK’s first Vehicle-to-Grid tariff
- A compatible charger: a Wallbox Quasar 1 V2G charger
- A compatible EV car: (check our list of compatible vehicles)
- A smart electricity meter we can connect to
- Permission to export energy to your local distribution network (aka a G99 certificate): contact the DNO (distribution network operator) for your area if you need one.
- A schedule that fits: You’ll need to be able to plug in for roughly 12 hours a day every couple of days, and charge less than 333kWh per month (equivalent to 1,084 miles of driving). We’re not fussed if you occasionally miss these targets, but if it’s a regular occurrence, you’ll need to hop off Power Pack.