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Grandad_Bod
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October 1, 2024
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Why is the charge anytime tariff rate not available as a straight forward economy 7 rate?

  • October 1, 2024
  • 6 replies
  • 282 views

Why is “night rate” electricity much cheaper to have if used with an electric vehicle tariff than a straightforward (Economy 7) storage heating tariff and why is the cheaper tariff only available if you own an EV?

Best answer by Blastoise186

Updated on 02/02/26 by Abby_OVO

 

Hi @Grandad_Bod,

 

That’s because OVO’s Charge Anytime is NOT a “Night Rate”. It’s designed as an Anytime Rate for specific purposes, hence the type being Type of Use Tariff. You can get the cheaper rate for EV Charging - and EV Charging only - 24/7/365 by allowing OVO’s systems to manage the charging so it runs at the greenest times. It’s designed so you can pair it with any of OVO’s tariffs without being hit with peak penalties or similar.

 

Economy 7 is fixed hours so OVO can’t take advantage of slots where it gets more efficient - they have to rely on the exact hours.

 

OVO doesn’t have a dedicated EV Tariff anymore for this reason - you can just add Charge Anytime to any tariff to turn your chosen Tariff into an EV one freely. Or, if you don’t, then you just pay the usual rates for the one you selected.

 

Check out the following topic for more on how Charge Anytime works:

 

6 replies

Blastoise186
Super User
Blastoise186Super UserSolved
Super User
October 1, 2024

Updated on 02/02/26 by Abby_OVO

 

Hi @Grandad_Bod,

 

That’s because OVO’s Charge Anytime is NOT a “Night Rate”. It’s designed as an Anytime Rate for specific purposes, hence the type being Type of Use Tariff. You can get the cheaper rate for EV Charging - and EV Charging only - 24/7/365 by allowing OVO’s systems to manage the charging so it runs at the greenest times. It’s designed so you can pair it with any of OVO’s tariffs without being hit with peak penalties or similar.

 

Economy 7 is fixed hours so OVO can’t take advantage of slots where it gets more efficient - they have to rely on the exact hours.

 

OVO doesn’t have a dedicated EV Tariff anymore for this reason - you can just add Charge Anytime to any tariff to turn your chosen Tariff into an EV one freely. Or, if you don’t, then you just pay the usual rates for the one you selected.

 

Check out the following topic for more on how Charge Anytime works:

 

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    BPLightlog
    Super User
    BPLightlogSuper User
    Super User
    October 1, 2024

    Why is “night rate” electricity much cheaper to have if used with an electric vehicle tariff than a straightforward (Economy 7) storage heating tariff and why is the cheaper tariff only available if you own an EV?

    This is one of those things which I think OVO could be better at. There are things with EV’s, Heat Pumps and the like which seem to be in place to encourage better (more) use of electricity which can help reduce emissions but for those who don’t have an EV etc., it would be helpful to have more incentives to move power usage if you can.

    There are schemes (and suppliers) who do offer this but it can become more complicated to control.

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    G
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    Grandad_BodAuthor
    Rank 1
    October 11, 2024

    Our “system” comprises 4 storage heaters. The input to these is time controlled by OVO, currently 5 hours at night and 2 hours during the afternoon. Clearly not a “night rate”.  I’m happy for OVO to control the input to our heaters on any scheme as long as they’re active at least once each day to give them the opportunity to “fill up”.

    Blastoise186
    Super User
    Blastoise186Super User
    Super User
    October 12, 2024

    They will be meter controlled, that’s how an Economy 7/10 setup is supposed to run.

    In some cases Economy 7 may run like that, but it’s usually 7 hours overnight in one go.

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    Grandad_BodAuthor
    Rank 1
    October 12, 2024

    I’m NOT on economy 7, I’m on Superdeal. I have 2 meters providing 3 meter readings, one of these is radio controlled by OVO (ie not by an in-built time switch). I have NO control of the switching time(s) for that meter.

    Blastoise186
    Super User
    Blastoise186Super User
    Super User
    October 12, 2024

    I had a suspicion you were on Superdeal, but the info in the thread wasn’t clear enough to be sure. Anyway, in that case, you need to talk to OVO ASAP about migrating away from Superdeal as it’s no longer supported.

    You won’t be able to keep Superdeal once you’re on Smart Meters, but OVO will help you figure out what options best suit you going forward before you commit to migration.

    Please don’t leave it too late though - you’ve only got until March 2025 to make a decision if we’re being realistic.

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