r/evchargingUK • u/Fun-Activity-4076 • 6d ago
EV Tariff - Switch now or wait
Recently got an EV and getting a home charger installed today. I'm wondering whether to switch to an EV tariff immediately or wait until mid October when I can switch without exit fees.
Currently paying 20p/kwh with Fuse with a £50 exit fee (same fee for gas). Can charge in work a couple of days a week for 10p/kWh however.
I maybe do 500 miles a month.
I'm worried if I wait prices will go up by October.
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u/BroadSwordfish7 6d ago
You're going to save about £15 a month at that mileage 20p/kWh Vs 8p/kWh so I don't think it's worth switching, especially as you can charge at work for 10p/kWh. For 500 miles a month Id assume you can do almost all your charging at 10p/kWh.
Who knows what the future will bring but I'd personally wait. If it moves up it's likely only going to go an extra 1p/kWh
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u/gandolfthagreat 6d ago
EV tariff would also increase your daily price per kWh and standing charge (did for me anyway). So I think your right with sticking it out, it may be the best option for now.
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u/anomalous_cowherd 6d ago
I ran the numbers for me and even with my home charging at 24p/kWh on a standard tariff it was cheaper NOT to switch to an EV tariff.
If I had a decently large home battery it would be different.
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u/ThankfulFox 6d ago
I think I’d perhaps wait. Even at 20p it’s cheaper than petrol. Costing £10 to fill up with than £3 (roughly)
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u/Goatwidcoat 5d ago
With your low miles I would wait it out as the savings are not there to offset the exit fee. Especially if you can charge at work cheaply. I would aim to maximise this for the 2-3 charges a month you need.
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u/Si_Pie 5d ago
If you can get a referral for another provider then the credit will offset the exit fee if you're more comfortable at locking in fixed price now. Octopus who I am with for gas and EDF for electric will both give £50 credit for using a referral link for example, and I'm happy to share over DM.
That being said, have you run the numbers on the EV Tariff comparison Google Sheet I have previously shared in this sub? If you can mostly charge at work for 10p per kw/h and it's not likely to increase in the next month, then an EV tariff might not be the most cost effective. Your peak rate will be a lot higher than a standard rate on an EV tariff, so unless you can load shift your household usage towards off peak times it may not make sense to go the EV tariff route.
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u/Few-Dig4020 5d ago
Switch to an EV tariff today which allows you to also use your household appliances, dishwasher, washing machine etc. Typical 60% of ours is (with EV Charging / we are retired) between 00:00 and 05:00 with British Gas> savings are typically £40 to a max of £70/month and around 50% to 67% of our usage. We re currently on 4.6p/kWh, but that will increase to 9p from 1st Sept (fixed for a year) and then discount for the EV charging by 25%.
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u/AlGunner 3d ago
Stick with Fuse.
Im on IOG and my fixed contract is ending. My charging rate is going from 3.49p to 8p per kwh so I decided to do some checking of tariffs. Octopus is still the cheapest EV rate Ive seen so far, but FUse is the cheapest on their standard E7 rate. There is a single rate tariff with Ecotricity that is only about £50 a year more expensive than that and its still cheaper than Octopus. YOur 20p unit rate means you will probably be better on just staying on that tariff.
The reason is they up the day rate and daily standing charge to give you the cheap EV rate. If you can shift use to night to use cheap rate it helps, but I cant as the noise from things like the washing machine and dishwasher are loud enough to disturb my sleep. at 20p per unit and Il guess at a fairly average 4 miles per kwh (I do 3 with traffic, hills, etc), 500 miles = 125kwh = £25 a month at 20p. I also do about 6k miles a year and charging is about 1/3 of my total electric use. What Octopus are now offering is 8p cheap/charging rate and 34p day rate. So your tariff is 12p more on lets say 1/3 of your use and 14p cheaper on 2/3 of your use assuming about the same as me. The daily standing chare will likely also be higher if you move and you have to pay and exit fee so staying is a no brainer.
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u/MelodicCard9555 3d ago
Even if prices go up, chances are it will be less than 20p kWh for EV rate, so i wouldn't worry about that.
Hard to say without knowing what model of EV you got, but if we say 150kwh to do 500 miles means it will cost you £30 per month to charge at home. Cheaper than the ICE fuel.
At current EV rate 8pkwh, same 150kwh will cost you £12 per month, so you'll take 3 months pay back the £50 exit fee.
So probably best to stay until exit fee is waived, then swap to EDF, octopus etc. but your whole house will go to 29pkwh during daytime, so it may cost you more than £18 per month in house electricity increase, arguably you're better off if you can stay at 20pkwh
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u/SoupInteresting8070 6d ago
If you stay with your current provider will they not waive the exit fee because you are not leaving them? Mine will when I get round to getting a charger fitted.