Octopus Energy and Ohme are today announcing a partnership to offer Octopus Energy customers the chance to have smart charging at home – enabling them to charge any electric car when Octopus’s green electricity is cheapest.
By integrating with Agile Octopus, the UK’s only smart time-of-use tariff, the Ohme cable and app brings smart charging to any home.
Once the cable is connected, the driver can just open up the app and enter the amount they would like to charge their car and by when, and then let Ohme manage it for them. For example: “On weekdays, charge my car battery to 100% by 7am”. Ohme then uses the Octopus Agile API to automatically deliver the right amount of electricity when it is cheapest.
By optimising their charging in this smart way, Octopus Energy and Ohme estimate that customers using Ohme in parallel with the Agile Octopus tariff could save around £300 per year¹ on their charging costs in comparison to charging on a typical industry standard variable tariff.
The cable will cost £399, but the first 1,000 Octopus Energy customers get a special launch price of £199.
Octopus Electric Vehicles identified a desire by EV drivers to fill their cars with green electricity at times when the price is lowest. The team was blown away with Ohme as it can be used with any EV, and with existing home charge sockets. Familiar with Agile Octopus, Octopus EV brought Ohme Octopus Energy together to create this unique offer for the EV community.
Benefits of the Ohme smart cable include:
- Ohme can be used with any electric vehicle
- It can be used with any existing charge socket, so doesn’t require an installer visit, and can be used on public charge points – not just at home
- It can even be used with a standard UK 3-pin socket or an inexpensive commando socket (which can charge as fast as a typical home charger)
- It manages EV drivers’ energy usage and sets charging preferences like daily commutes and weekend trips, and receives a summary of drivers’ cost per mile
- It monitors users’ Green Score, calculating the C02 consumption per mile and comparing it to a diesel or petrol vehicle – allowing management of the environmental impact
The combination of the Agile Octopus tariff and Ohme cable is the next step towards a sustainable smart grid, unlocking the benefits of cleaner air, lower carbon emissions, lower transport costs, and giving consumers greater control over their energy use.
The latest news follows Octopus Energy’s integration with Amazon Alexa. Drivers on the Agile Octopus tariff can ask Alexa when are the cheapest or greenest times to use electricity. Owners of the Ohme technology can rely on the cable and app to choose the best times for them, calculated on a day-to-day basis as the prices are released a day ahead.
Greg Jackson, CEO Octopus Energy, said: “Octopus is relentlessly driving easy-to-use technologies which help customers reduce costs by embracing the smart grid. Delivering such a smart electricity system will be fundamental to the transition to sustainable energy. The partnership with Ohme is a really exciting addition to the growing array of Agile-enabled products. It demonstrates again the opportunity to go green whilst cut costs and tackles the outdated notion that we can’t afford to be sustainable. Indeed, we believe we can’t afford not to be.”
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.”
¹ Based on a vehicle doing 10,000 miles per annum, with average efficiency of 3.4 miles/kWh. Savings were calculated based on a comparison of Octopus Agile energy prices and Standard Variable Tariff prices from four of the Big Six between May 2017 and May 2018. Assumes all charging is conducted in low-price periods.
