Octopus Intelligent Drive Pack
Discussion
I've got my dedicated charger sorted but still decided on what tarrif. I do around 450-500kwh use each month and looked into prices etc. Now on an 8p rate it's around £40 but Octopus do the Drive Pack which is £30.
So am I correct in thinking that I would be saving £10?
Or would I still be paying the £30 plus then the higher rate for the extra usage?
If its just £30 then it's clearly a no brainier to save £10 each month.
So am I correct in thinking that I would be saving £10?
Or would I still be paying the £30 plus then the higher rate for the extra usage?
If its just £30 then it's clearly a no brainier to save £10 each month.
The fundamental difference between Intelligent Go and the drive pack is that you don't get the whole house cheap rate when you're charging - basically they just deduct any use going in to your EV from your bill.
My thoughts on it are it's a tariff designed to appeal to those who can't get their head around load shifting and time of use billing who will see £30 a month and think that's a lot less than I spend on petrol/diesel - which is no bad thing, and as a fixed charged it will appeal in that regard to some. It's not necessarily the cheapest deal for everyone - you need to be using a decent amount of charging.
My thoughts on it are it's a tariff designed to appeal to those who can't get their head around load shifting and time of use billing who will see £30 a month and think that's a lot less than I spend on petrol/diesel - which is no bad thing, and as a fixed charged it will appeal in that regard to some. It's not necessarily the cheapest deal for everyone - you need to be using a decent amount of charging.
quinny100 said:
you need to be using a decent amount of charging.
Not strictly true, as your peak unit cost rises with the 'Go' tarriffs, so you are paying approx 5-6p more per unit for regular household electricity. So if you use a lot of non-car charging electric (say run an electric dependant business from home) and you can't make use of the off-peak benefits to reduce this cost significantly, then you might be better on the £30 charge.Edited by DavidY on Friday 24th October 15:39
DavidY said:
Not strictly true, as your peak unit cost rises with the 'Go' tarriffs, so you are paying approx 5-6p more per unit for regular household electricity. So if you use a lot of non-car charging electric (say run an electric dependant business from home) and you can't make use of the off-peak benefits to reduce this cost significantly, then you might be better on the £30 charge.
Yes, very few people seem to realise IOG is dearer for normal use and lots of people can’t do much load shifting. We (well my daughter) got in on this at £20 launch price when it was an absolute no brainer. At £30 it probably does require a bit more thought.
They’ve changed the T&C’s on the Intelligent Drive Pack now - initially it had a 700kWh per month fair usage policy but no daily limit.
Now it’s a maximum of 6 hours managed charging per 24 hours, after which you’ll be charged standard rate. That’s an effective limit of 42kWh per day based on a 7kW charger.
Which is better depends on your circumstances - you’ll be fine doing 150 miles a day if you’re home every night; if you do fewer but longer journeys needing regular 50kWh charges it might not work for you.
It’s worth pointing out Octopus have recently contacted Intelligent Go customers who have regularly exceeded 6 hours daily use warning them to rein it in.
Now it’s a maximum of 6 hours managed charging per 24 hours, after which you’ll be charged standard rate. That’s an effective limit of 42kWh per day based on a 7kW charger.
Which is better depends on your circumstances - you’ll be fine doing 150 miles a day if you’re home every night; if you do fewer but longer journeys needing regular 50kWh charges it might not work for you.
It’s worth pointing out Octopus have recently contacted Intelligent Go customers who have regularly exceeded 6 hours daily use warning them to rein it in.
quinny100 said:
They ve changed the T&C s on the Intelligent Drive Pack now - initially it had a 700kWh per month fair usage policy but no daily limit.
Now it s a maximum of 6 hours managed charging per 24 hours, after which you ll be charged standard rate. That s an effective limit of 42kWh per day based on a 7kW charger.
Where have you seen that - I’m sure it’s not correct? The headline says “Drive Pack includes all your scheduled charging for just £30 a month”.Now it s a maximum of 6 hours managed charging per 24 hours, after which you ll be charged standard rate. That s an effective limit of 42kWh per day based on a 7kW charger.
They’ve only changed the terms once, back in April, when it changed from £20 with a fair usage of 700kWh to £30 unlimited, but only for one car (although if you didn’t have a car linked, they wouldn’t know).
If you need an immediate, unscheduled, charge then that’s at standard rates.
So how do they know when the car is actually charging?
Also I definitely don't 150 miles a day and to be honest, I don't think I'll be able to keep on top of just intelligent Octopus.
Plus depending on the rate, my partner works at full time at home and let's say due to kids, the washing machine is pretty much in constant use. So can't just move that sort of thing to night time only.
Also I definitely don't 150 miles a day and to be honest, I don't think I'll be able to keep on top of just intelligent Octopus.
Plus depending on the rate, my partner works at full time at home and let's say due to kids, the washing machine is pretty much in constant use. So can't just move that sort of thing to night time only.
quinny100 said:
They ve changed the T&C s on the Intelligent Drive Pack now - initially it had a 700kWh per month fair usage policy but no daily limit.
Now it s a maximum of 6 hours managed charging per 24 hours, after which you ll be charged standard rate. That s an effective limit of 42kWh per day based on a 7kW charger.
Which is better depends on your circumstances - you ll be fine doing 150 miles a day if you re home every night; if you do fewer but longer journeys needing regular 50kWh charges it might not work for you.
It s worth pointing out Octopus have recently contacted Intelligent Go customers who have regularly exceeded 6 hours daily use warning them to rein it in.
That last bit is because people were taking the piss. Deliberately using granny chargers to try and get the whole house at 7p for hours and hours during peak times. That isn't so bad during the summer months when renewables make grid prices cheap, but in winter it was always going to get clamped down on.Now it s a maximum of 6 hours managed charging per 24 hours, after which you ll be charged standard rate. That s an effective limit of 42kWh per day based on a 7kW charger.
Which is better depends on your circumstances - you ll be fine doing 150 miles a day if you re home every night; if you do fewer but longer journeys needing regular 50kWh charges it might not work for you.
It s worth pointing out Octopus have recently contacted Intelligent Go customers who have regularly exceeded 6 hours daily use warning them to rein it in.
Ankh87 said:
So how do they know when the car is actually charging?
Also I definitely don't 150 miles a day and to be honest, I don't think I'll be able to keep on top of just intelligent Octopus.
Plus depending on the rate, my partner works at full time at home and let's say due to kids, the washing machine is pretty much in constant use. So can't just move that sort of thing to night time only.
With all such tariffs, either the car or your charger must be connected to Octopus. They can see exactly much is consumed by charging your car, and also start or stop the charge process.Also I definitely don't 150 miles a day and to be honest, I don't think I'll be able to keep on top of just intelligent Octopus.
Plus depending on the rate, my partner works at full time at home and let's say due to kids, the washing machine is pretty much in constant use. So can't just move that sort of thing to night time only.
Happy with Octopus IOG here.
My white goods have timers, generally used after midnight.
Often when I plug the car in during the evening, to add say 50%, it decides to charge it outside of the standard cheap period, meaning the whole house is 7pKwh during the schedule.
Without trying very hard, average around 13p Kwh.
Put it this way, my electric bill is around the same as it was before i got an EV. I’m not spending £150 a month on petrol / diesel..
My white goods have timers, generally used after midnight.
Often when I plug the car in during the evening, to add say 50%, it decides to charge it outside of the standard cheap period, meaning the whole house is 7pKwh during the schedule.
Without trying very hard, average around 13p Kwh.
Put it this way, my electric bill is around the same as it was before i got an EV. I’m not spending £150 a month on petrol / diesel..
Sheepshanks said:
quinny100 said:
They ve changed the T&C s on the Intelligent Drive Pack now - initially it had a 700kWh per month fair usage policy but no daily limit.
Now it s a maximum of 6 hours managed charging per 24 hours, after which you ll be charged standard rate. That s an effective limit of 42kWh per day based on a 7kW charger.
Where have you seen that - I m sure it s not correct? The headline says Drive Pack includes all your scheduled charging for just £30 a month .Now it s a maximum of 6 hours managed charging per 24 hours, after which you ll be charged standard rate. That s an effective limit of 42kWh per day based on a 7kW charger.
They ve only changed the terms once, back in April, when it changed from £20 with a fair usage of 700kWh to £30 unlimited, but only for one car (although if you didn t have a car linked, they wouldn t know).
If you need an immediate, unscheduled, charge then that s at standard rates.
RotorRambler said:
Happy with Octopus IOG here.
My white goods have timers, generally used after midnight.
Often when I plug the car in during the evening, to add say 50%, it decides to charge it outside of the standard cheap period, meaning the whole house is 7pKwh during the schedule.
Without trying very hard, average around 13p Kwh.
Put it this way, my electric bill is around the same as it was before i got an EV. I m not spending £150 a month on petrol / diesel..
Same here. Was £80/mnth electric standing order, plus £190 on petrol. Now just £80 for the lot. And still people argue against my decision to go electric. My white goods have timers, generally used after midnight.
Often when I plug the car in during the evening, to add say 50%, it decides to charge it outside of the standard cheap period, meaning the whole house is 7pKwh during the schedule.
Without trying very hard, average around 13p Kwh.
Put it this way, my electric bill is around the same as it was before i got an EV. I m not spending £150 a month on petrol / diesel..
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