Octopus Energy and Ohme have collaborated to offer smart EV charging to customers, with the energy company’s time-of-use tariff and the new Ohme cable reducing charging costs.
The cable will manage a customer’s charging depending on requirements, and optimising the process to make the most of the Agile Octopus tariff. Customer’s open Octopus’ app, set their requirements – such as ‘On weekdays, charge my car battery to 100% by 7am’ – and Ohme then uses the energy company’s API to automatically draw the right amount of electricity when it is cheapest.
Estimated cost savings could see those using the Ohme cable and Agile Octopus tariff reduced by £300 per year, compared to charging on a typical standard energy tariff. This not only reduces costs for customers on the smart time-of-use tariff, but also reduces load on the grid.
The cable manages to turn any home or public untethered EV charge point effectively into a smart unit, and costs £399. The first 1,000 Octopus Energy customers will get a special launch price of £199.
The cable can feed back a Green Score to drivers, calculating CO2 consumption per mile, and also a cost per mile summary. It can manage an EV driver’s energy usage and sets charging preferences such as daily commutes or regular trips.
David Watson, CEO Ohme, said: “At Ohme we believe the future of transport is electric and that flexible home charging is the key to mass adoption. Ohme’s innovative smart charging cable is the first app-controlled, intelligent EV charger, that combined with Octopus’ smart energy tariffs, delivers real savings and environmental benefits. All you need to do is plug in and let Ohme do the rest.”
Fiona Howarth, CEO Octopus Electric Vehicles, said: “Many EV drivers plug in their car at home – just like their mobile phone – and start each day with a full charge. Doing so is hugely convenient, and now the Ohme and Octopus partnership is a huge step forward to offer all EV drivers green electricity at the cheapest times, by using technology to optimise charging for them.”
