Octopus Intelligent Go limiting cheap charging to 6hrs/day
Discussion
https://octopus.energy/blog/intelligent-octopus-go... (to take effect sometime in January).
Previously you could set a 'departure time' and charge target, and you'd get as much cheap electricity as you needed to achieve it. So if you had a 100 mile round-trip commute, in an EV that averaged 2 miles/kWh (thirsty), you could charge for 7-8 hours a night all at cheap rate.
Now that's capped at 6 hours in 24, so you'd be charged the full rate for the final 1-2 hours needed (regardless of when those final hours actually happen).
Octopus say they'll introduce the option to automatically limit charging sessions to 6 hours if desired, which will save people having to manually set charge limits daily after eg returning from a long trip with an empty battery.
To be fair, 6 hours at 7 kW is ~120 miles for most EVs (assuming 3 miles/kWh average). OTOH the ability to charge for longer when needed was a key advantage of Intelligent; as it is, for most people it's now really just 6 hours off-peak overnight, so not that different from the more conventional tariffs most providers offer. And for some people - those customers who benefited the most from IOG - it'll be a step up in costs.
Previously you could set a 'departure time' and charge target, and you'd get as much cheap electricity as you needed to achieve it. So if you had a 100 mile round-trip commute, in an EV that averaged 2 miles/kWh (thirsty), you could charge for 7-8 hours a night all at cheap rate.
Now that's capped at 6 hours in 24, so you'd be charged the full rate for the final 1-2 hours needed (regardless of when those final hours actually happen).
Octopus say they'll introduce the option to automatically limit charging sessions to 6 hours if desired, which will save people having to manually set charge limits daily after eg returning from a long trip with an empty battery.
To be fair, 6 hours at 7 kW is ~120 miles for most EVs (assuming 3 miles/kWh average). OTOH the ability to charge for longer when needed was a key advantage of Intelligent; as it is, for most people it's now really just 6 hours off-peak overnight, so not that different from the more conventional tariffs most providers offer. And for some people - those customers who benefited the most from IOG - it'll be a step up in costs.
octopus said:
If we need to schedule more than 6 hours to reach your target charge, only the first 6 hours of charging will be at the discounted rate – extra half-hours will be charged at your Bump rate (even if they’re scheduled during the off-peak window
I think it's 6 hours cheap charging in 24, not 6+6. But the info is confusing.
Email update from Octopus today.
Pete Miller @ Octopus said:
In my last email, I mentioned we’re introducing a 6-hour smart charging limit to keep the system fair for everyone. I’ve heard your feedback, and we’re making two big changes to ensure it works for you, not just the grid:
The second point is key for me - I tend to use my car at weekends, and use a three-pin charger, so I often need many hours of charging but I'm fine for them to be spread out over the week. I was afraid they'd tell me I had to manually re-set my charge target daily to accomplish this, so I'm glad they'll make this automatic.- We’ve delayed the changes: We want to make sure the transition is smooth, so we’re taking our time to test and iterate the cap internally before launching. We expect it will be ready in March — we’ll let you know before it goes live.
- We’re introducing “Charge Cap”: A new feature that gives you control. You’ll be able to toggle between capping your charging to the 6 cheapest hours — so if you plug in regularly, you won’t see any change to your costs from the 6 hour limit — or hitting your charge target, even if it requires a little extra charging outside those 6 cheapest hours. Charge Cap will launch alongside the cap in March.
gotoPzero said:
Looking at my usage and the 6 hr limit I will need to charge the car for 6hrs @10A every 3 days or so.
Not a huge issue - but I would prefer it if you could "bank" hours and just plug in for longer. Suppose we will have to see how they go about dishing out slots but my guess is they are going to be more restrictive and try and force people to take their 6 hrs overnight.
I get that it can be more convenient to plug in once a week for a longer period.Not a huge issue - but I would prefer it if you could "bank" hours and just plug in for longer. Suppose we will have to see how they go about dishing out slots but my guess is they are going to be more restrictive and try and force people to take their 6 hrs overnight.
However, the point of Intelligent Octopus is to charge EVs during the times when there's surplus electricity. By picking up 'unwanted' electricity it avoids having to burn extra gas or build more powerplants.
It's a bit like going to the supermarket at the end of the day to pick up the heavily marked down rolls from the bakery section. You get cheap food, the supermarket gets some money for stuff that would otherwise have to be binned at the end of the day, and it reduces the burden on the environment - everyone wins. But you can't turn up at 10am and demand 75% off bread, and in the same way I can't run my 78kWh battery down to 4% and then demand 24+ hours of solid charging at 7p a unit - I the customer have to give the supplier flexibility about timing in exchange for the much lower price.
The 6 hours in 24 limit is a way of imposing this, as Octopus can pick the cheapest 6 hours in each given day.
Personally I'm ok with leaving my car plugged in anytime it's parked at home thus maximising flexibility, but it doesn't work for everyone depending on habits, usage and charger type.
I suppose the interesting questions are (a) is this really any better for the consumer than just getting eg 5 fixed cheap hours every night and (b) are any other suppliers able to offer, sustainably, any tangibly better deals?
-Cappo- said:
I'm probably being thick here but can someone explain this to me like I'm five?
I generally only charge my car about once a week. Let's say I run it down to 20%, and want to charge to 80%. That's about 46kWh (on a 77kWh battery). The maximum my Hypervolt can deliver is 7kW, so 6 hours will give me 42kWh. That's less, albeit marginal, than my requirement.
Sometimes, if we're going somewhere specific, I do want to charge to 100%.
Do these changes mean that I'll have to plug in when I get down to, say, 40% for normal weeks, and plan (and charge) a few days in advance if I need a 100% charge, just to ensure that the 6 hours IOG will provide to me are sufficient to charge to the level I need?
Yes, precisely. I generally only charge my car about once a week. Let's say I run it down to 20%, and want to charge to 80%. That's about 46kWh (on a 77kWh battery). The maximum my Hypervolt can deliver is 7kW, so 6 hours will give me 42kWh. That's less, albeit marginal, than my requirement.
Sometimes, if we're going somewhere specific, I do want to charge to 100%.
Do these changes mean that I'll have to plug in when I get down to, say, 40% for normal weeks, and plan (and charge) a few days in advance if I need a 100% charge, just to ensure that the 6 hours IOG will provide to me are sufficient to charge to the level I need?
We will be limited to six cheap hours in twenty four.
This means plugging in more frequently, in order to draw the same weekly energy in total.
The earliest you'd need to plug in in advance of a trip would be two days, since the whole battery is less than 12 hours of charging - so plug in on Thursday and Friday nights if going away on Saturday morning, for example.
Nic-nfr74 said:
Okay, this is what we do at present, wife has a MINI E and that s the car octopus can See so we have that set to charge immediately and octopus stops and starts when it feels the need to. I have a 5 series PHEV and I set the car timer to charge between 2330 and 0500 (cheap rate)
So then we do not need to change the way we charge at all then?
That should be fine, yes. You have one car linked to IOG, and the other car will be metered as 'house' usage so cheap rate 23:30-05:30.So then we do not need to change the way we charge at all then?
The only possible difference when the change comes in is that if the Mini needs more than six hours to reach its charge target, you'd have to choose between reaching the charge target and paying standard rate for the extra charge beyond the first six hours, or cutting off after six hours and leaving it short. But with a smallish battery that seems unlikely to be an issue.
Same here.
Car was on 90%. I scheduled it to charge up to 100% for 09:30. Woke up at 06:30 and it hadn't charged, so I manually set it to start.
With my Polestar 2 I have to use the separate 'Polestar Energy' app to set the departure time. Going to that this morning, the app has 'lost' the car configuration. I also had the departure time reset to 11am.
Fortunately I got enough charge for today's trip, but I hope this is a one-off.
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