The UK’s larger energy supplier, Octopus Energy, is launching its own EV charger. The Octopus Charge is designed to pair with the Intelligent Octopus Go tariff, which offers up cheaper electricity rates overnight for EV charging.
Octopus Energy has designed and built its own EV charger and is backing it with a three-year warranty. There’s a £999 (about $1,300) tethered option with a 5-meter cable or an £899 (around $1,200) untethered version you can use with any cable you want. Those prices are largely in line with other EV chargers once you factor in install costs, but the Octopus Charge will be tempting for Octopus customers as it’s installed and supported entirely by Octopus.
Octopus has made a name for itself in the UK by using green energy to drive down the costs of electricity in the UK. Wholesale rates for electricity in the UK have soared in recent years, and Octopus offers variable pricing every 30 minutes on its Octopus Agile tariff or the Intelligent Octopus Go option that lets EV owners charge for 6 hours of cheap energy every night at 7p per kWh — that’s 9 cents per kWh. I’ve been using Octopus to get free electricity for a couple of years now.
If you’re not with Octopus then Octopus Charge isn’t as appealing, unless you’re willing to switch. While this EV charger looks like an easy way of locking Octopus customers in for life, if you do decide to leave the supplier it will be compatible with other energy suppliers in the UK. “Ideally this provider would have their own Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) platform to be able to directly control the charger,” explains Octopus spokesperson Christina Hofmann in an email to The Verge. “It’s also possible to switch the charger to Plug and Charge mode, with scheduling via the EV, in case the provider isn’t equipped their own OCPP platform.”
There are also plenty of other EV chargers that can integrate into the Intelligent Octopus Go tariff, but Octopus’ own version will make that integration a lot simpler and easy to use. Octopus controls third-party chargers through vehicle or EV charger APIs, which can occasionally be problematic.
Octopus says its EV charger will be available for most EV drivers to purchase later this year, and the company is currently offering early access to those who lease a car through its Octopus Electric Vehicles scheme. Everyone else can register their interest at Octopus’ website.
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