Should I stay with OVO if I buy an EV?

Howdy ​@Scarborough Ken !

It’s actually easier than you might think. :)

With OVO, you can use Charge Anytime as an Add-On, so it basically works with ANY OVO Tariff/Plan of your choosing - you don’t need to worry about that as it’ll work with whatever you pick.

Long story short, you just get the Charger and set up the Charge Anytime app and it’ll do the rest. Both Hypervolt and Zappi are really good choices but I’d say go Hypervolt if you’re nervous because it’s the most battle-tested one out of the pair.

Blastoise186 - Thanks very much.  I appreciate the response, - that’s reassuring. 

​@Scarborough Ken Welcome to the world of EVs. I hope your home charging experience is going to be a positive one.

The one thing I would recommend as a new EV owner is to practice charging from public chargers when you have a good level of charge in the first place. Sounds a bit odd but you will need to get used to doing this for longer journeys and it's better if you have a practice first before going out of range of your home charger.

I hope you have a smart phone because that will help you a lot. I suggest you get the ZapMap app that shows you where chargers are located. I would suggest you use something like Osprey to begin with as they are very reliable (my No.1 choice) if a bit expensive.  Also go on to the internet and look for a list of the ‘Top Ten EV chargers’ and stick to the ones near the top of the list that are in your area. That way you will gain experience and confidence in charging away from home. Try and do this a number of times, putting a small amount each time. Most public chargers now work with contactless cards and that is the easiest way to do this.

I've had my EV now for over four years and I've been driving since the late 1960s. Happy EV ownership! Please come back on here if you have any more questions.

Peter

Hi Peter & Abbey

Thank you both for responding to my post. I appreciate you taking the time to do so and I;ll certainly take note of your suggestions.

Kind Regards, Ken

This info is now out of date as Charge Anytime is doubling to 14p/kWh from November. 

Thanks Everyone 

I appreciate your input and learned a lot. 
Kind Regards

Ken

Ken

You might want to look at the Charge Anytime part of the forum - there are a lot of comments since tge announcement this week about the doubling of Charge Anytime prices and the possible alternatives. 

When picking a home charger you may want to consider those that work best with solar, if you have this. It may also be useful if either your car or your charger is compatible with smart EV tariffs. If your car is compatible then the charger also being compatible is less of an issue.

It can be hard to compare various EV tariffs as each has its pros and cons and it will depend on how much and at what time of day you will generally be charging.

Maybe don't sign up to any electricity tariff with an exit fee until you know better which EV tariffs offering suits you best.

If you are charging in public then you may find the Zapmap and also the Electroverse apps useful to have.

It's a steep learning curve, but it will soon become second nature. Feel free to ask any questions you have. There's no such thing as a stupid question, as even if there was you can be sure lots of people have asked it before!

Thats a good point about compatability of chargers. I originally bought an Ohme, but then discovered Ovo was dropping support for it on Charge Anytime and my car was not then compatable with Charge Anytime. I was able to get my money back from Ohme by arguing that they knew Ovo was dropping them when they sold me the charger. I got a Hypervolt which is supported by a lot of suppliers.

Thanks again guys. 
Ken

Thanks for your help and insight ​@EVuser and ​@nealmurphy 😁.

​@EVuser welcome to the OVO Forum! I’ve applied the EV badge to your Forum account so that other Forum members can recognise you.

​@Scarborough Ken feel free to give us a shout if you’ve got any further questions!

​@ken 

I would look at alternatives because Ovo just can't be trusted. In recent months they've stopped integrating with my brand of charger (Ohme) and are now doubling the cost of charging from 7p to 14p per unit. If you're a high mileage user you could try the Octopus monthly EV tariff.