Best OVO Energy tariff / plan for charging my electric vehicle (EV)?

No worries. It appears that SSE has been removed from the ZoomEV partner list because it’s been superseded by OVO via the OVO Drive tariff, which I can understand given the ongoing SSE to OVO migration project. However, I’ve not been told anything about OVO partnering up with ZoomEV so far and this is the first time I’ve heard about it. I’ll play a Joker Card and see if I can ask @Tim_OVO and @Jess_OVO to stop by as they might know more about this offer.

Bear with me for a bit, as this might take a little while. I hope that’s OK with you. I wonder if you can combine OVO Drive, OVO Drive Anytime and ZoomEV together into one giant bundle too… That could be interesting…

It does seem however, that the only EV Chargers on offer via ZoomEV with their discount (currently £50 off RRP) are the BP Chargemaster Homecharge and EO Mini Pro 2, which aren’t currently compatible with OVO Drive Anytime but can be used with regular OVO Drive. That discount is without factoring in the OLEV Grant which would probably apply anyway no matter which one you go for.

With that being said, ZoomEV does show a starting price of £545 for the EO Mini Pro 2and £549 for the BP Chargemaster Homecharge with the OLEV Grant and ZoomEV discounts already applied, so it’s not too bad an offer if you’re willing to sacrifice the Drive Anytime bolt-on.

To help put this into perspective, I’ve also looked up the RRP/MSRP of both chargers directly from their respective manufacturers. The full price of the EO Mini Pro 2 Universal Socket (Untethered) variant without any discounts starts at £945 for the 7KW model, while the Chargemaster Homecharge one unfortunately won’t provide a price at all without me generating a quote which I can’t do myself (sorry!). But if I assume that the combined discounts from ZoomEV (£50) and the OLEV Grant at maximum level (£350) wipes out £400, then that gives me a starting price of £949, presumably for the untethered version.

Sorry for all these edits on this comment though! I don’t like to double post and flood everyone with loads of alerts, so editing this in is a bit more silent and keeps the forum a bit tidier.

After visiting the Fully Charged Outside show at the weekend, I'm surprised that OVO weren't promoting the Drive +Anytime options more. Have to say the stand looked pretty dead each time I walked past it, which is a shame.

Hi @nealmurphy - how did you find Fully Charged? Did you see Chris Russell on stage on the Friday?

I was chatting to one of my colleagues this morning who was there and he mentioned there being lots of interest in OVO Drive and Anytime. A shame you didn’t pop in to say hello!

What were your picks of the weekend? Anyone else there? 

I was there on the Saturday. I think the presentations should hopefully be put online at some stage. Really good range of topics, and interesting to see the Beyond the Boiler session really well attended! I think there's scope to expand the electricification of heat sections of the show for the next event in April (OVO should definitely have a chat with FC about promoting what you've been up to!)

Had a test drive of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the VW id.4. Impressed with them both. Have to say the electric Fiat 500 looked really good as well.

Nothing wrong with the OVO stand, but I feel that some huge lettering on the windows of the stand promoting the big selling point of +Anytime of 5p/kWh charging anytime would have got the attention of people that don't yet know about it.

Good point, @nealmurphy - let’s ask this question around the new year, to see what OVO’s current plans are for April’s FC event. I didn’t actually know they were twice a year. Maybe some of the smart home team, or me and Jess will attend. We can arrange a meet up there with you and other trialists perhaps….. 

What counts as a test drive, @nealmurphy? I’m thinking a stig from Top Gear lap of a track. But is it more a ‘get in the front seat and try the indicators’ sort of thing? 

Also, out of interest what’s your latest thinking with the Leaf. Looking at alternatives? 

Good feedback we’ll pass this on to the people who organized this. :) 

They are planned to be once a year but with the ‘2020’ show being put back several times it means you don’t have to wait as long for the next one! Very nice of you to offer to buy us all tickets for a meet-up! 

What counts as a test drive, @nealmurphy? I’m thinking a stig from Top Gear lap of a track. But is it more a ‘get in the front seat and try the indicators’ sort of thing? 

Test drives were really good; around 20 minutes driving on the public roads around Farnbourough Airport and the chance to get up to the national speed limit.

Also, out of interest what’s your latest thinking with the Leaf. Looking at alternatives? 

My wife is still happy with her Leaf (though now likes the Fiat 500. I’ve got an MG ZS EV at the moment which I’ve had for about a year. Good value for money and holding it’s value remarkably well, though I’ll need to save up before swapping to the ones I test drove. This little runaround also caught my eye:

Silver lining to the whole 2020 debacle, eh? I for one would love to see some of you (in-person!) and take some EV wheels for a spin.

nealmurphy wrote:

 

 

This one looks about the right size for me and my terrible parallel parking skills! 

With Smart meters, Smart Charger and two EVs, we went back to the Standard Variable tariff earlier last year because the renewal costs for Anytime Drive were astronomical. I still wish to be part of the load balancing that the Smart charger should give to beneft OVO and ourselves, but I don't see any ability to review new plans in the app.  How can we move forward? 

Hi @tony1tf,

Good question this and it’s a developing situation when it comes to tariffs, plans, unit rates. Wholesale energy costs have made things volatile and our advice now may be different in a month’s time. 

With that in mind, my advice today is that OVO Drive is NOT available to new customers online, or to renewing customers via our Support team. 2023 will see developments with this proposition, including the scaling of OVO’s direct to vehicle (D2V) Anytime add on for any OVO tariff, giving multiple EV model owners the chance to get cheaper EV charging rates. 

Hi @Tim_OVO 

As a former Anytime Drive customer, I hope OVO will get in touch with me when the new plans are available. Being part of the green energy revolution was a reason why I joined OVO, and I feel sad that I can’t be a useful part of it currently.