Skip to main content
Abby_OVO
Community Manager
Community Manager
September 24, 2025
PinnedF.A.Q.

Meet the new Charge Anytime!

  • September 24, 2025
  • 334 replies
  • 17381 views

Updated on 14/04/26 by Ben_OVO

 

Charge Anytime has evolved - we’ve introducing monthly plans

 

You can now choose a new, easy way of paying for your EV charging. One simple monthly payment, whether you’re smart charging at home, or out and about.*

 

With the introduction of these new Charge Anytime monthly plans will come questions, and we’ve put together this FAQ guide to cover everything you might want to ask or need to know.

 

If there’s anything you’re still unsure of after reading this, you can ask us below or get in touch with the team if you’ve got a more specific issue.

 


What are monthly plans?

 

Charge Anytime monthly plans are our charging products that offer one monthly fee for your home and public charging. Plus other perks depending on which package you choose. Here are more details of the current plans available.

 

 

How does a Charge Anytime monthly plan work?

 

Charge Anytime monthly plans offer combined home and public charging for one monthly cost. Each plan has a home mileage allowance. You’ll be billed a fixed monthly cost, and then we’ll credit you EV charging up to the maximum allowance. Included within the cost of the monthly plan you’ll also receive your public charging voucher and any other perks associated with your plan.

 

 

How does Charge Anytime pay as you go work?

 

All the electricity you use in your home and for smart charging will initially be charged at your standard home electricity rate. This is the rate you’ll see in your balance and on your bill. 

 

At the end of the month, we’ll work out how much energy you've used to smart charge your EV. We'll use this to calculate how much credit we need to add to your account. This will be applied in the following month.

 

 

How do I manage my plan?


Download OVO Charge from the App Store or Google Play to manage your monthly plan. Schedule charging sessions and track how much of your monthly plan you’ve used in the app. If you’ve gone over your monthly allowance, you’ll see this information in the OVO Charge app. You can also manage and redeem your perks in the app too. 
 

 

How does billing work?

 

There are a few different elements to how these plans are billed:

 

  • Your monthly plan fee - charged at the beginning of each month, this is based on the plan you choose and covers the cost of your plan’s home mileage allowance, public charging voucher and any other perks associated with your plan. 

 

  • Credits - we’ll credit the kWh that you use to charge your car, in line with your monthly plan home charging allowance (explained below). This is shown on your bill the month after you’ve used it.

 

  • Extra charging costs - any charging that you use over your monthly allowance will be charged at your usual home tariff rate, this will appear as normal electricity use on your bill. 

 

If you go over the mileage allowance of your plan, you’ll still be able to charge, but you’ll be charged for the kWh that you use above your monthly allowance.

 

For example:

  • You smart charge your car for an equivalent of 1,100 miles

 

  • We credit you for 1,000 miles, the premium plan monthly maximum allowance based on a vehicle efficiency of 4 miles per kWh. Which means we’ll apply a credit of 250 kWh to your bill

 

  • If your usual home tariff rate is 25p per kWh, we’ll credit you for a total of £62.50, which would appear on your bill the following month

 

  • This means for the 100 miles above your plan allowance you would not receive credit for. This will be charged at your usual home tariff rate, this will appear as normal electricity use on your bill

 

 

What will the credit look like on my bill?

 

We’ll apply either Charge Anytime pay as you go or monthly plan credit to your account at the start of every month. It’ll also appear on your monthly OVO energy bill under the heading Charge Anytime pay as you go or monthly plan credit depending what plan you’re on. The credit shown on your bill will be for the electricity you used for smart charging the previous month. So in the first week of December, you’ll see your credit for November in your OVO online account or OVO app.

 

If you’re on a monthly plan in addition to receiving charging credits up to your plan mileage cap you’ll also be billed your monthly plan fee. This will be displayed on your bill as “Charge Anytime - monthly plan” followed by the choice of plan you’re on, for example, “premium”.

 

 

How will I be billed if I sign up or cancel during the month?

 

When signing up to a monthly plan your first monthly fee will be adjusted depending on the day you sign up. For example, if you signed up to the premium plan, which is £37.50 a month, on day 16 of a 30 day month - you’d be billed £18.75. You’ll still receive your full monthly mileage allowance no matter what day of the month you sign up. 

 

If you choose to cancel your plan this will happen on the first day of the following month. This means you’ll still receive your full mileage allowance and be charged the full monthly fee for your final month. 

 

Usage of other perks included within your monthly plan won’t be affected by when you sign up and you’ll be able to use them straight away. When you cancel your plan any unused benefits including extra perks will be lost. 

 

 

What other perks do I get?

 

All our monthly plans include EV Charger Cover and a public charging voucher. Our premium, standard plus and premium plus plans include even more perks - with multi-car plus plans coming with a £240 public charging voucher. Here are more details on each plan and how to redeem your perks.

 

 

Am I locked into a contract if I choose a monthly plan?

 

No, you can cancel your monthly plan at any time. Your home energy contract won’t be affected. Cancellation starts at the end of each month so you can continue to access your charging miles and perks until then.

 

 

Can I switch between Charge Anytime monthly plans and pay as you go?

 

Yes, you can switch between monthly plans at any time. When you choose to switch, your new monthly plan will become active on the 1st day of the following month. Your existing perks will still be available from your old plan but they won’t renew. If you choose a plan with more perks or higher mileage this will be added to your existing allowance.

 

If you’re switching from pay as you go to a monthly plan this will start at midnight the next day. The fee you pay and the mileage available will be adjusted to reflect the day your plan starts.

 

 

Can home charging miles roll over and be used in other months?

 

No, your monthly miles for your plan will reset on the first day of each month. For example, if you signed up to the premium monthly plan and used 800 miles of charging, your next month will reset at the premium monthly plan amount of 1,000 miles.

 

 

Will my Direct Debit be affected?

 

Your Charge Anytime credit won’t affect your Direct Debit. You can ask for this to be refunded, if your account is in enough credit. Any refunds will be applied in line with our refund policy where you can find more information on refund eligibility.

 

 

What app do I need to use?

 

Download OVO Charge from the App Store or Google Play to manage your charging. If you’ve been using the Charge Anytime app you’ll need to start using OVO Charge instead. 

 

 

 

Can I continue to use my EV or charger app?

 

Yes, absolutely. It’s important to know that the OVO Charge app will instruct your EV to start and stop charging throughout your smart charging schedule. This is to maximise use of the greenest and cheapest energy on the grid. This means that if you manually set a charging schedule in your EV or charger app, it’ll be overridden by the OVO Charge app. We recommend not setting schedules in your EV or charger app and managing all your charging in OVO Charge.

 

 

Why do I need to pay monthly for my energy to get Charge Anytime?

 

Paying monthly for your energy means we can automatically add Charge Anytime credit to your account in the first week of each month. This avoids any delays or the need for any manual adjustments to your credit amount.

 

Your smart meter also lets us track your energy usage in real-time to charge your EV. This ensures that you're always charging at the cheapest and greenest times.

 

 

Charge Anytime for Volvo and Volkswagen Group customers

 

Why do partnership customers continue to get a lower pay as you go rate of 7p per kWh?

 

The lower rate is part of the special partnerships we have with Volvo and Volkswagen Group UK. We’ve teamed up to be able to provide exclusive offers for our shared customers with specific EV models. It’s a perk that comes from our tight collaboration with these brands, and within the terms and conditions of their offers. 

 

For Volkswagen Group UK customers, the 7p pay as you go rate is part of the terms and conditions for the VWG Free Miles Offers, as agreed with Volkswagen Group (VWG). VWG includes Audi, Skoda, CUPRA and Volkswagen. Customers must have taken up a Free Miles offer and then remain on Charge Anytime pay as you go to take advantage of the offers.
 

For Volvo customers who smart charge in the Volvo Cars app, we’re not able to offer monthly plans right away. We’re working to make them available to customers as soon as possible. In the meantime, we’ve agreed with Volvo to offer this exclusive pay as you go rate for customers. 

 

 

How do I get the exclusive pay as you go partnership rate of 7p per kWh? 

 

To be eligible to receive the special partnership rate:

  • Volkswagen Group customers: If you’ve been confirmed as eligible for one of our VWG Retail or Company Car Offers, you’ll be able to keep your 7p/kWh rate for now if you stay on pay as you go. This will also mean you’ll still be eligible for your future Volkswagen Group free miles offers, like your anniversary miles.

 

You can still switch to a monthly plan if you’d prefer, but if you do, you'll lose your 7p rate and access to your future Volkswagen Group free miles offers.

 

Please note, our VWG Retail and Company Cars Offers are only available to eligible vehicles purchased before the 30 September 2025. 

 

For more information, see the full terms and conditions here.
 

  • Volvo customers: You must have an eligible model and be smart charging through the Volvo Cars app on pay as you go. Eligible models include: XC40 Recharge Pure Electric, C40 Recharge Pure Electric, EX40 or EC40. Find more details about the Volvo offer here. At this time, you won’t be able to access monthly plans. 

 

 

Why can’t I get monthly plans as a Volvo Cars app user? 

 

Monthly plans are currently only supported in the OVO Charge app.  We’re working hard with Volvo to bring monthly plans to you, and will let you know once there's an update.

 

In the meantime, you'll continue to pay 7p per kWh until monthly plans are available to you.

 

 

If you still have any questions following these, please do drop us a question below. All compatible EVs and Smart Chargers can be found here. We’ve also got a dedicated topic hub of all things Charge Anytime, so if you’re having any issues, take a look through the guides below, and if you’ve got any other questions feel free to ask our community:

 

 

Best of luck on your EV journey! And if you need any help, we’re always here.😊🔌

 

* A fixed monthly cost for all your EV charging where the home charging element is based on signing up to a chosen monthly plan and using up to the home mileage cap associated with your plan. Any mileage up to the cap you will be credited for at your home tariff rate. Mileage over the cap you will not be credited for effectively meaning you'll be charged at your home tariff rate for mileage above your plan cap. Your home tariff rate will also apply to urgent charging. The public charging element is based on using up to the annual voucher amount for public charging associated with your monthly plan, for example £120 if you were to sign up to the premium monthly plan.

334 replies

Rank 6
September 25, 2025

Very few suppliers options are great for EV charging, especially lack of 24/7.

This is what OVO are banking on. They know full well the fury this will have caused. Not just an acceptable rise but 100%+ increase. But they are clearly playing the odds.

I’ve looked at most and its going to be Octopus for me. Once I switch I’ll move over to the IOG rates. Daytime will be more, and its still not 24/7 EV charging.

However as we have solar and home battery, we can charge the home battery up also overnight using the 7p rate, then make use of that in the day to reduce usage on the higher daytime rates. If I need to charge the EV in the day, then fine, I’ll keep it to the minimum, and overall we should be better off based on my calculations.

November ties in quite well for us as that’s when our fixed rate plan expires.

Been with OVO over 10 years, but its bye bye from us once the rate goes up. 

We’ve also given OVO a big thumbs down on trustpilot. The more people that do that, the bigger impact on them. Express your anger.

Rank 4
September 25, 2025

 

: doubling CA rates to 14p per kWh benefits who exactly 

Er - OVO, obviously!  

I’ve now had time to analyse the options available to me, and have realised that they are digging themselves out of the hole they created for themselves when they structured Charge Anytime as a bolt-on to existing tariffs. By doing this, we the customers were in the happy position of getting cheap EV charging without any penalty on our basic tariff prices.

By comparison, pretty much every other energy supplier has specific “EV Tariffs”, in which the cheap EV charging rate is offset by an increased unit rate for general electricity. Octopus are the worst offenders in this game, but all are guilty.

Our problem is that by doubling (and more) the cost of EV charging in Charge Anytime, OVO have over-cooked their solution, and moved themselves from the cheapest-in-market to pretty much the most expensive. 

I wonder whether their bean-counters will realise this and moderate the charge somewhat in due course. I think they should have gone for 10p, if their aim was to improve their finances without destroying their business. Unfortunately for them, 14p is demonstratively too greedy and will do exactly that.

Rank 5
September 25, 2025

It did use to be 10p they dropped it to 7p inline with other providers. I think 10p most would stomach but not 14p. Depending on how good of a company ovo are they will either, reduce the 14p to 10p or back to 7p, OR double down on the whole fiasco as they can't admit they fecked up! 

nealmurphy
Newcomer
Newcomer
September 25, 2025

 

However as we have solar and home battery, we can charge the home battery up also overnight using the 7p rate, then make use of that in the day to reduce usage on the higher daytime rates. If I need to charge the EV in the day, then fine, I’ll keep it to the minimum, and overall we should be better off based on my calculations.

You'll generally get quite a bit of charging scheduled in the evenings as IOG attempts to balance the grid. This also gives you cheap rate for the whole household, so I definitely think you'll be better off when you take this into account.

Newcomer
September 25, 2025

I expected when reading the email from OVO, this has gone down like a lead-balloon.

Based on our (short term as new to an EV) monthly usage we’d likely exceed the limit on their lower tier subscription (the £27.50 p/m), but not need so much as is offered in the higher (£37.50 p/m) tier. I suspect these where carefully arrived at as to make the lower tier unattractive.

Assuming I stay with OVO and take up tier2 I can see myself not bothering to operate the EV in a ‘green’ way anymore. Since having an EV I find I drive and operate it with an aim to maximize the use of the charge, however if I’m going to be moving to a use-it-or-lose-it (cant roll it over) monthly KW number then … what the hell, why bother to think about being green and efficient (which I am aware is not very environmentally friendly)

And of course … once they get customers used to a flat monthly fee, there will be the annual ‘ our costs have gone up, so sorry … next years rate is now £% more ‘.

I would have to join the comments here in condemning this as being very poor from OVO. The whole point of CAnytime is that OVO get to sell excess generated energy which they have to produce but have no means to store, e.g. sell it to customers with batteries and let them store it. This change can only be around maximizing profits, which I appreciate is a companies ‘res on detra’, however keeping customers (both happy and literally keeping) is surely a corporate goal also?

Newcomer
September 25, 2025

 

"Existing OVO customers are first in line to try it out."    ...... No thanks.

 

I currently do approx 25,000 miles at 2.4 miles per kwh....... none of your 'monthly plans' are suitable so you are basically doubling my rate from 7p to 14 per kwh. How do you justify such rubbish and then try and sell it as a positive ?   

I've been with Ovo for less than a year and have sent all my bills increase over 200%.

Time to go.

 

 

Rank 6
September 25, 2025

Assuming I stay with OVO and take up tier2 I can see myself not bothering to operate the EV in a ‘green’ way anymore. Since having an EV I find I drive and operate it with an aim to maximize the use of the charge, however if I’m going to be moving to a use-it-or-lose-it (cant roll it over) monthly KW number then … what the hell, why bother to think about being green and efficient (which I am aware is not very environmentally friendly)

 

This is why I am considering dropping my company EV when the lease breaks even early next year. Then privately go back to a diesel. 

My fear is that where one supplier goes, they all follow. If the others see OVO benefiting from their greed, it will be like a domino effect.

If that happens, this will severely hit the UK EV sales market, which is already beleaguered from the hype. The ONLY offset financially to the massive cost of a new EV is the cheap home charging. Remove that and you lose the EV incentive. Yeah I get the 14p is still cheaper than ICE fuel (which OVO have gone to great lengths to highlight) but the price of very good 2nd hand ICE cars far outweighs any savings in the EV running costs when charging is not cheap.

 

Newcomer
September 25, 2025

You couldn’t make it up. Hasn’t anyone at Ovo noticed that they HAD a growing customer base of people who were clearly satisfied with the Charge Anytime plan, and were clearly so LOYAL that they were happy to sign up for another 2 year fix despite the fact that there were cheaper rates per KWh elsewhere?

Or MAYBE they did, and that’s why they just decided to treat us all like suckers!

No thank you Ovo..

Rank 2
September 25, 2025

I’m a high mileage driver. Just been doing some digging. Yes octopus are more expensive on the ev tariff for the rest of the house but if you take out the intelligent drive for £30 the standard rate applies and  is 26p kWh. And unlimited free charging unlike this joke of an offer where they charge and then double your ev rate to 14p.   So looks like I’m much better off on octopus now ovo have done this. Goodbye after 5 years loyalty. 

Rank 2
September 25, 2025

Well this is a complete bust! I based my whole charging strategy for a new EV on the current £0.07 charge. Now this is doubled.

You would at least have thought that the “plans” would offer a cheaper pro rata charge, but no!

  • Standard is 15.7p per kWh
  • Premium is 15p/kWh
  • Standard plus 17p/kWh
  • Premium plus 15.9p/kWh

You don’t even get the 14p “pay as you go” rate if you fall off the end of your plan!

OK, so there’s other benefits…?

  • Charging voucher - I have yet to find OVO Charge points in locations convenient to me
  • Charger cover - on my car insurance
  • Battery health check - almost certainly an upselling opportunity for OVO’s “partner”
  • Kwik Fit Club Subscription Discount - more upselling. I shop around for tyres as needed to get best deal at the time. Info on Kwik Fit website not immediately clear what you pay or what you get - my car doesn’t even look up as it is new

So where’s the deal here OVO?

Also, I came to OVO at first due to excellent (by comparison) standing charges. If this is to change in January with other suppliers forced to offer lower standing charges, the whole benefit of OVO for me evaporates.

Puff!

I was much impressed 6 months ago and now feel utterly deflated!