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Meet the new Charge Anytime!

  • September 24, 2025
  • 309 replies
  • 14469 views
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309 replies

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  • Carbon Cutter*****
  • October 28, 2025

Yep imagine the uproar if prices at the pumps doubled with 6 weeks notice! As above e.on and Scottish are decent if you have a supported ev. Doesn't work for us as we will soon have 2. So for us it'll probably be octopus IOG, but might look at their drive pack for £30 a month but not sure if it supports more than one ev, I've not looked yet. 


  • Carbon Cutter*
  • October 29, 2025

So I have been looking at the new deal. Am I correct in assuming that if I say buy the £37.50 package I get 1000 miles worth of electricity for charging my car at no further charge and that is provided as it is today i.e. when OVO decide - usually overtime.  Then if I require more in the same month I pay the full rate of circa 24p a KW. If this is correct then that means this is an improved deal provided I do not use more than 1000 miles of electricity. 


BobTom
Carbon Catcher**
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  • Carbon Catcher**
  • October 29, 2025

That’s how I understand it. 
Not very compelling is it.

However the free battery check and the discount on tyres should make you smile; not for the right reasons however.


BobTom
Carbon Catcher**
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  • Carbon Catcher**
  • October 29, 2025

The unit cost per kWh with this subscription has gone up from the present figure of 7p to a higher unit cost which depends on how much you charge up to 1000 miles in a given month: anything over, the unit cost escalates further, as you say, to circa 25p per kWh.

So not using your car for a period of time and charging less than your monthly allowance means you don’t get much in the way of value.

Someone correct me please if my interpretation is incorrect.


  • Carbon Cutter*
  • October 29, 2025

Another way though to look at it is… Assume they are giving you 1000 miles of free charging for your £37.50. If you car does  5 miles per KW then this is 200 kw or electricity. 200kw at 14p is £28 - so less that £37.50. So not a compelling reason to pay a monthly charge.  The reality though is the “deal” is awful to understand.  This alone will cause people to switch I assume. Terrible marketing.

 


  • Carbon Cutter*
  • October 29, 2025

Ah ignore the above - just read the small print - the 1000 miles is given to you as 250kw. So under the pre 4th of November this would have cost you 250*0.07 so £17.50. If you take a deal it will now cost you £37.50 with a few perks thrown in. If you do nothing 250kw will cost you 250 *0.14 so £35.  Not sure why anybody would bother with this at all. Really strange decision. Maybe their business model just cant sustain the current pricing and this just a desperate attempt to hang on to those inert customers who dont move.


Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • October 29, 2025

I’d say it’s more because the Hedging Contract that enabled the 7p/kWh rate has likely expired and had to be renewed based on what’s available now.

The same will happen to all the other suppliers sooner or later - it’s only a matter of time...


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  • Carbon Cutter*
  • October 29, 2025

I have just read an article by Martin Lewis stating that the Charge Anytime rate is going to double in 6 days time from 7p per kWh to 14p per kWh.  Effective from 4 November 2025.

I have not had any notifications from Ovo about this at all.  Has anyone else?  Very disappointing to hear this news from a third party with just a few days until the rates change.  

 

Link to Martin Lewis article below:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2025/10/ovo-charge-anytime-price-hike/#:~:text=October-,Ovo%20Energy%20to%20double%20cost%20of%20home%20EV%20charging%20for,should%20you%20ditch%20and%20switch%3F&text=Ovo%20Energy%20is%20hiking%20the,subscriptions%20at%20the%20same%20time.


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  • Carbon Cutter*****
  • October 30, 2025

Doubling the rate is just ridiculous.

I take it the charge anytime credit still won’t be taken into account in the direct debit. 

Currently my average bill is £150 pcm. I pay £279 pcm in my direct debit.

If I choose a plan it’s £79.50 per month (I won’t as not staying) 

therefore my direct debit will be £358.50 PCM for actual bills for a lot less.

It’s ridiculous to the highest order.


Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • October 30, 2025

Hi ​@KHebb ,

From what I understand, the notifications did go out around a month or so ago - did you maybe lose it in your spam folder perhaps?


Abby_OVO
Community Manager
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  • Author
  • Community Manager
  • October 30, 2025

Hey ​@KHebb 

 

As one of our volunteers has already mentioned above, initial emails regarding this were sent out around 24 September, if you could double check your spam folder just in case it’s slipped in there? The communications have already been issued as our volunteers have mentioned so you should already have receive notice of this change.


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  • Carbon Cutter*****
  • October 30, 2025

What is the current rate and when does the rate change? This is crazy. I remember paying 5.5p not so long ago and now that price is to increase by 154.5% or there abouts.

I am currently being charged 15p kwh (from 7p in July) hence why I ask, when is it due to change? As it seems it already has.

I also think I am going to go with octopus 


Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • October 30, 2025

The Charge Anytime rate has never actually been 5.5p/kWh.

From memory, it has historically been:

  • 5p
  • 10p
  • 12p
  • 7p

It will be 14p from the 4th November on the PAYG option. 


Forum|alt.badge.img+1
  • Carbon Cutter*****
  • November 3, 2025

After many years with Ovo, I’ve taken the plunge and I’m moving to Octopus tomorrow. There are a few reasons, not just the doubling of the EV charge, including:

  • The move to the new Indra platform caused issues with solar charging, which haven’t been resolved. It’s impossible to charge just on excess solar.
  • We have house batteries, so especially during the winter months, IO will allow these to be charged up at cheaper rates overnight.
  • We’ve recently bought a tumble dryer, which has increased our electricity usage.
  • Octopus offer a good SEG rate for their customers.
  • Ovo keep putting up my Direct Debit when it’s not need, and I have a large amount of credit with them.

I fed all the data I had available into Gemini and got it to perform deep research. It suggested a maximum of £300 savings per annum by switching to IOG, assuming all load was shifted to overnight. This won’t happen of course, but even if it’s £200 it’s worth it. This figure also doesn’t take SEG into account.

I will still have an account with Ovo Charge. I have lots of public charging credit remaining from when it was Bonnet so will continue to use that up as and when required.

It will take a bit more planning with our two EVs, to ensure we’re both not needing to charge on the same night. I’ll keep you posted on how smoothly the switch goes.


  • New Member**
  • November 4, 2025

Hang on! This is so out of order.

Do OVO think we’re stupid - they’ve just doubled the price of charging our cars and to add insult to injury it’s been delivered as if it’s the best thing ever. 


This is such a con. Do the maths.

And the pay as you go charge is the same as the plans they’re offering.

I’ve been with OVO since they started trading about 15 years ago. Today, I’m leaving.


kopweb
Carbon Catcher*
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  • Carbon Catcher*
  • November 5, 2025

Charge Anytime was just another marketing ploy. But with almost 4 years of EV ownership behind me, I’m now looking seriously at the costs involved. On low mileage I’ll never recoup the added purchase cost, even on 7p a mile. On high mileage I wouldn’t trust the range in rural areas. I’m on the cusp of changing car anyway. Why should I try to be green when the whole system is geared only to bottom-line?

 

I shall probably revert to a mild hybrid ICE, then switch to the cheapest energy deal I can find in the market. In the meantime I shall offset some of this latest price hike by opting out of other ‘green’ cons like Greener Energy and the Ovo Foundation.

Just as an update to the above:

  • I opted out of Greener Energy and the Ovo Foundation immediately.
  • I reviewed total costs of my EV ownership (financial, environmental + C/A faff).
  • The results failed to show that my low mileage EV was saving the planet or me.
  • My new car arrives next week - and it’s an ICE mild hybrid.

All that remains now is to check the market for the cheapest energy deal I can find - preferably one without any false and misleading ‘green’ pretensions.


Forum|alt.badge.img+1
  • Carbon Cutter*****
  • November 6, 2025

After many years with Ovo, I’ve taken the plunge and I’m moving to Octopus tomorrow. There are a few reasons, not just the doubling of the EV charge, including:

  • The move to the new Indra platform caused issues with solar charging, which haven’t been resolved. It’s impossible to charge just on excess solar.
  • We have house batteries, so especially during the winter months, IO will allow these to be charged up at cheaper rates overnight.
  • We’ve recently bought a tumble dryer, which has increased our electricity usage.
  • Octopus offer a good SEG rate for their customers.
  • Ovo keep putting up my Direct Debit when it’s not need, and I have a large amount of credit with them.

I fed all the data I had available into Gemini and got it to perform deep research. It suggested a maximum of £300 savings per annum by switching to IOG, assuming all load was shifted to overnight. This won’t happen of course, but even if it’s £200 it’s worth it. This figure also doesn’t take SEG into account.

I will still have an account with Ovo Charge. I have lots of public charging credit remaining from when it was Bonnet so will continue to use that up as and when required.

It will take a bit more planning with our two EVs, to ensure we’re both not needing to charge on the same night. I’ll keep you posted on how smoothly the switch goes.

The move has completed but I didn’t receive the refund despite registering for it. Systems are clearly working well!


Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • November 7, 2025

Refunds are not allowed if you’re in the process of switching away - industry rules. Any refund requests will usually get rejected during this time.

Please wait for your Final Bill - you will be refunded all remaining spare credit after that has been paid, which will be roughly six weeks from now.


Forum|alt.badge.img
  • Carbon Cutter*****
  • November 7, 2025

After many years with Ovo, I’ve taken the plunge and I’m moving to Octopus tomorrow. There are a few reasons, not just the doubling of the EV charge, including:

  • The move to the new Indra platform caused issues with solar charging, which haven’t been resolved. It’s impossible to charge just on excess solar.
  • We have house batteries, so especially during the winter months, IO will allow these to be charged up at cheaper rates overnight.
  • We’ve recently bought a tumble dryer, which has increased our electricity usage.
  • Octopus offer a good SEG rate for their customers.
  • Ovo keep putting up my Direct Debit when it’s not need, and I have a large amount of credit with them.

I fed all the data I had available into Gemini and got it to perform deep research. It suggested a maximum of £300 savings per annum by switching to IOG, assuming all load was shifted to overnight. This won’t happen of course, but even if it’s £200 it’s worth it. This figure also doesn’t take SEG into account.

I will still have an account with Ovo Charge. I have lots of public charging credit remaining from when it was Bonnet so will continue to use that up as and when required.

It will take a bit more planning with our two EVs, to ensure we’re both not needing to charge on the same night. I’ll keep you posted on how smoothly the switch goes.

I'm the same as you. Making the switch to Octopus. Absolutely not paying DOUBLE. No thank you. And if I choose the amazing monthly subscription from OVO, I'll be paying £80 plus extra at the high rate as the Kwh won't be enough. So north of £100 per month to charge my car. Where as before it was around £30-£40. 


Peter E
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • November 7, 2025

OVO decided to join the subscription trend on the internet and they won’t be the last energy supplier to do so. E.ON have just come out with Next Drive.

 

https://www.eonnext.com/tariffs/next-drive

 


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  • Carbon Cutter**
  • November 11, 2025

@Abby_OVO Will Ovo waive contract exit fees for customers who feel duped into signing up Fixed ‘Loyalty’ plans with bolt-on cheap EV charging, only to find that Ovo clearly doesn’t value or reward that loyalty?


Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • November 11, 2025

AFAIK that’s at the discretion of the Charge Anytime team. You’d need to talk to them about it.

0330 175 9678 or chargeanytime@ovo.com 

Worth noting that the offer to let you break contract for free won’t be open forever - there will be a point when it expires.


Ben_OVO
Community Manager
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  • Community Manager
  • November 12, 2025

Morning ​@stephens,

 

As ​@Blastoise186 says, you’ll have to contact Charge Anytime to discuss this. We on the Forum team can’t offer any complaint resolutions, as we don’t have access to customer accounts.

 

Please let us know how you get on when you speak to them.


Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • November 12, 2025

Just wanted to mention something else…

The exit fee waiver offer was only good until the 4th November. ALL requests after that are purely at OVO’s discretion. If you’ve picked a Charge Anytime monthly plan, don’t be surprised if the request gets denied as you would be seen to have accepted the new terms.

Likewise, I would imagine that ALL requests from 1st December onwards will be auto-denied on the basis that you would have had enough time to make your decision.

If you are serious about leaving, you must make the request now to have any chance of approval in terms of fee waivers.


Forum|alt.badge.img+1
  • Carbon Cutter*****
  • November 13, 2025

I’m holding my nose and staying with OVO, as I can’t be bothered to do the calculations to see if anyone is cheaper - it’s pretty marginal. We don’t want to change our lifestyle - eg use of cheap electricity at night. I suspect that the other companies will put their rates up, anyway, once the marketing exercises are over. I shall continue to battle with OVO and Indra to get the best for our solar panels (no battery). The system seems to be more reliable at the moment, and I feel that if I plug the car in early evening, it will get charged for next day without me having to check at bedtime. That may of course be because it’s winter and the panels aren’t producing enough to trigger solar charging.