Fiestared, (love the moniker! I used to have one ?) I have OVO energy already and they do a bolt on to the tariff which allows a rate of 10p per kWh anytime for charging electric cars. It doesn’t increase the rate of the normal supply, just reduces the cost for the car. It charges the normal amount initially (whatever your standard rate is) then retrospectively adjusts your bill to reflect how much of the total was used for the car charger. Honestly, I wish it just reduced the cost immediately, but seeing as I was already on OVO it was easier to keep with them.
Before ordering I called OVO to check all my facts were right. They asked me to confirm make and model of car and charger to confirm compatibility. Of course, I was able to answer the car part but not the charger due to motability offering two kinds. I gave them both and they said that whilst it didn’t matter thanks to the car being compatible they would prefer the Ohme version as it too was compatible (in case I went to charge a car that wasn’t directly compatible with their system the fact that the charger was would allow me to do it). So in my case both car and charger are compatible so should be fine. Based on other posts I’ve read I think it’s all Ohme at the moment but that seems like a good thing.
I’ve read about some issues with the supplied Renault charge cable being very tight to put in which would be an issue for me but I’ve chosen a tethered charge unit (cable attached to charger) and I’ve not seen any issues reported with Ohme product regarding their cables and connectors, and I don’t intend to do much public charging so shouldn’t need to use the Renault cable often.
Regarding energy prices, there is that doubt, but the price difference between home charging an electric car and filling with petrol is so big that I feel quite protected against the cost of future increases. Worthy of note as well is that in my area the cost of petrol has gone up 15p a litre within what seems like only a month or so. The way I’m thinking about it is that we’ve all had to bear the increased cost of our domestic supplies and make economies on our use, but this is a separate cost issue and should be dealt with independently. I’m just looking at the cost of petrol per mile vs the cost of kWh per mile and based on the price of both being directly linked to oil price I can’t see one rising significantly whilst the other falls so the comparative savings will still be there, even if the cost rises.
In my original post I commented how much I’ve surprised myself that I’d discounted electric motoring completely whilst sucking up the extra cost of petrol, maybe because that’s what I’ve always done. Moan when I see the petrol price at the pump then fill it up anyway. No doubting that electric cars require some different thinking but on paper it adds up to make sense. There’s a risk that there’s more to it over time and it doesn’t work out but my conclusion has been that it’s worth it to find out. ?