Will OVO reduce their EV Rate?

Hi ​@Chris_OVO 

Personally, I always charge overnight, so car ready for first thing in the morning. I would be happier with a cheaper over night rate, than a rate that allows flexibility for daytime charging that I don’t use. Obviously there will be others that prefer the other option.

Happy to stay with OVO for the moment, but as others have noted competitors offer this, so OVO could find that those customers that want the cheap overnight charging migrate to the competition, leaving OVO with the presumably? more expensive daytime charging users.

i guess time will tell.

colin

Hi ​@Colingray83 and perhaps others looking for cheaper rates, the crisis caused by the conflict in the ME is only just about to start. The last of the tankers that cleared the Strait of Hormuz are just about to arrive in the UK. Energy pundits are saying that the damage caused to oil and gas facilities in the ME is significant and will take years to restore even if the fighting stops now. Some are even predicting that the overall effects will be worse than the post COVID energy crisis. I fully expect that energy prices will go crazy although we have a small buffer with our renewables when they are available. At worst you might find that there are no significant discounts for EV charging for some time but this is only speculation.

The last time this happened the energy suppliers that went bust were the ones that hadn't sufficiently hedged their supply cost. What I've seen this time is that hedges only work if there is actually any oil and gas to be had on the market. I would say, when push comes to shove, Europe, being wealthier, will out bid Asian markets. At a price. The only thing to do is keep a close eye on energy rates.

Peter

Hey, 

Thank you for sharing your feedback so far. It’s interesting, though not surprising, that everyone has different views on charging their vehicles. I’ve shared this thread internally to ensure we keep the feedback loop open between us and you as our customers. 

When we consider Charge Anytime as a whole, we see that it's not the cheapest rate available, but it does offer one of the most flexible options in terms of charging periods for your car. 

​@woodstok2000 has made some valuable observations about the cost of charging on cheaper rates compared to Charge Anytime and full rate costs. If your usage patterns or behaviors change, it could be argued that Charge Anytime offers better value. However, for those who can charge their cars overnight and commit to shorter charging windows, one could make a case for switching to another supplier for a more cost-effective tariff.

I’d also like to highlight ​@Colingray83’s comments about customers leaving for cheaper nighttime charging options, which leaves us with “the more expensive daytime charging users.” This is a very interesting point. With all the grid balancing efforts that suppliers are implementing, such as our Power Move challenge or Octopus’s “savings sessions,” it will be intriguing to see if this approach is sustainable in the long term.

Considering the population of EV owners in the UK and their charging behaviors, I would assume that the majority charge their vehicles overnight, which creates significant strain on the grid as everyone pulls energy at the same time. There are already discussions about launching new vehicle-to-grid (V2G) pilot schemes, which I will link below that we'll be keeping a close eye on.

Even with EVs charging the loading on the grid is a lot lower at night. About 15GW less. That means, when there is not a lot of renewables on the grid, that cleaner, cheaper generation plants are used instead of the ‘peaker’ plants brought in at great expense when we need to generate the peak. We are also running the grid a a fraction of what it used to be due to less industrial plant and more efficient energy use. The peak used to be around 60GW if I remember correctly. Yesterday the peak you see below was achieved using only about 1GW of gas powered generation (because of the inertia requirements) resulting in nearly zero wholesale rates.

https://www.energydashboard.co.uk/live

Hey everyone! 

Thank you all for the amazing feedback in this thread! It’s been really interesting to hear everyone’s thoughts on charging. I've shared the thread internally because it’s always great to keep the conversation going.