OVO’s Drive + Anytime tariff, giving EV drivers discounted electricity throughout the day, launched across the country yesterday following a successful pilot scheme in January.
While many energy tariffs pitched at EV drivers offer discounted charging only during a few hours in the middle of the night, OVO’s charges customers a discounted rate of 5p/kWh no matter when they plug in their vehicle. OVO says it’s a “type of use” tariff, as opposed to competitors’ “time of use” deals.
OVO accomplishes this by automatically charging all plugged in vehicles when demand is low and electricity prices fall. When prices rise again, this electricity can be sent back to the grid from the batteries of any idle EVs. This means the batteries of EVs are effectively working as balancing capacity for the grid—increasingly important as our power system relies more heavily on intermittent renewables.
OVO’s tariff is backed by AI from its tech arm Kaluza. Using an app, drivers select the time by which they need their car charged. They plug it in and the technology optimises the vehicle to charge when demand—and thus prices and emissions—are low.
This method can enable customers to drive their EVs for just £100 per year, OVO says. It bases this on a driver logging 7,400 miles at an average of 4 miles per kWh of electricity, using 1,850kWh of electricity per year at the Anytime rate of 5p/kWh.
Kaluza has used algorithms to model patterns of electricity use and demand and customer behaviour and says it will have more than enough idle EVs to recruit as batteries to balance the grid.
Chris Russell, managing director of OVO Drive, said: “We want to encourage the use of electric vehicles as a carbon-conscious lifestyle choice, and it should be easy and accessible—with the help of Kaluza’s cutting edge technology, our new Drive + Anytime plan embodies that vision perfectly.”
OVO’s Drive + Anytime tariff isn’t the only electricity deal pitched at drivers of EVs. Most, such as those from British Gas, EDF and E.ON, offer cut-price rates overnight. Good Energy’s tariff takes a different tack, offering free charging when renewables surge. It alerts drivers of these free “flash windows” through an app.
