[GandT]

Hi all,

I’m currently debating whether to get a Pod Point installed in Sept when the new car arrives but may decide against it as we are looking to move and so will only have 6 months use and that’s the grant gone for the install at the new house.

Sooooo, if go with granny charging can I still programme the charge via the car (Kia eNiro) so that it only charges during the cheaper rate times?

if it’s relevant we won’t be doing more than 400 miles a month for the foreseeable.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Electrickery]

Yes, it should work fine. If you are doing relatively low miles though, is it worth being on a 2 rate electric tariff? You pay more on that for the day rate, and unless you have significant other electrical loads on the cheap overnight rate, a single tariff can often work out cheaper.

 

[GandT]

Thanks @Electrickery I have looked at tariffs and can’t find any one rate lower than the Octopus Go day rate? I’m not going to Symbio for customer service reasons.

Plus we are all electric and I’m looking to heat the immersion for 2 hours a day at lower rates. Not yet on Go, smart meter installed last week.

Damn living in a house with no gas! Bar the Calor bottles to power the hob!

Our leccy bills are horrendous and anything I can do to lower them I’d always welcome!

Glad to know that scheduled granny charging will work.

 

[artyman]

I tested the timer function on my E Niro using the granny charger last week, worked fine.

 

[Electrickery]

Thanks @Electrickery I have looked at tariffs and can’t find any one rate lower than the Octopus Go day rate? I’m not going to Symbio for customer service reasons.

Plus we are all electric and I’m looking to heat the immersion for 2 hours a day at lower rates. Not yet on Go, smart meter installed last week.

Damn living in a house with no gas! Bar the Calor bottles to power the hob!

Our leccy bills are horrendous and anything I can do to lower them I’d always welcome!

Glad to know that scheduled granny charging will work.

Fair enough, I've not had any issues with Symbio, so haven't needed to contact them at all. If you send them a meter reading towards the end of each month, the following months DD is pretty accurate (it's like a monthly bill). I'm ever so slightly in credit with them, but never more than about £25.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

Our house is all electric, and it was well worth switching to a cheap night rate tariff long before we got EVs. As long as at least about 40% to 45% of your electricity consumption is during the off-peak time period, then it generally makes sense to switch to a dual rate tariff. We're on E7 and roughly 56% of our consumption is during the off-peak period. With a peak rate of ~16p/kWh and and off-peak rate of ~9p/kWh our mean rate works out to be about 12p/kWh.

 

[Harry6]

If you are only doing a low mileage per month the the granny charging at night would work well for 4 hours but you could try Go Faster for 5 hours at 5.5p/Kwh

 

[GandT]

@Harry6 I’ve calculated that 2 or 3 x 4 hour granny charges a week will meet our needs so I’m definitely going to give that a go first as I’d like to save the grant for our next house!

 

[Eleven]

Hello all, I charge my Golf GTE twice a day, once overnight and once during the day, I currently pay 15.5p and 22.6p standing charge, my most recent bill was £73 and I am with igloo with just a single rate. As an absolute novice to this and dedicated EV electricity contracts, what should I consider when calculating the best options for me I.e. do I stay with igloo while are the cheapest or go to someone like Octopus Flexible, which is 18.9p and 23.44p standing charge?

thanks in advance for your help and the education

 

[Harry6]

Hello all, I charge my Golf GTE twice a day, once overnight and once during the day, I currently pay 15.5p and 22.6p standing charge, my most recent bill was £73 and I am with igloo with just a single rate. As an absolute novice to this and dedicated EV electricity contracts, what should I consider when calculating the best options for me I.e. do I stay with igloo while are the cheapest or go to someone like Octopus Flexible, which is 18.9p and 23.44p standing charge?

thanks in advance for your help and the education

Hi, are you using a granny charger for that length of time?.
I only need about 70 mile a day so the Octopus go 4 hours at 5p/kwh is enough for me.

 

[artyman]

I've run my granny charger for 12 hours continuously without any problems.

 

[GandT]

Hello all, I charge my Golf GTE twice a day, once overnight and once during the day, I currently pay 15.5p and 22.6p standing charge, my most recent bill was £73 and I am with igloo with just a single rate. As an absolute novice to this and dedicated EV electricity contracts, what should I consider when calculating the best options for me I.e. do I stay with igloo while are the cheapest or go to someone like Octopus Flexible, which is 18.9p and 23.44p standing charge?

thanks in advance for your help and the education

Definitely not Flexible. I’ve found Octopus Go the cheapest tariff in my area. I largely ignore the standing charge as the effect of a few pence a day is negligible compared to the effect of a higher kWh charge.

 

[Bobdniro]

@Harry6 I’ve calculated that 2 or 3 x 4 hour granny charges a week will meet our needs so I’m definitely going to give that a go first as I’d like to save the grant for our next house!

If a granny charger adequately fulfils your charging requirements, then a 7kw wall charger will serve no purpose? 🤔

My situation is the same. The granny does exactly what I need it to do, so why incur the financial burdon of installing a 7kW charger that will not provide any additional benefit other than charge a bit quicker? Which is of no consequence as I charge overnight!

 

[Ralkbirdy]

Octopus Go, about
00:30 - 04:30 5.00p
04:30 - 00:30 13.72p
vs 18p for flexible, but you need a Smart meter. Find your rate here

Octopus Go

The UK's most awarded energy supplier. We're doing energy better - for you and the environment.

octopus.energy

 

[Edd Beesley]

Hi all,

I’m currently debating whether to get a Pod Point installed in Sept when the new car arrives but may decide against it as we are looking to move and so will only have 6 months use and that’s the grant gone for the install at the new house.

Sooooo, if go with granny charging can I still programme the charge via the car (Kia eNiro) so that it only charges during the cheaper rate times?

if it’s relevant we won’t be doing more than 400 miles a month for the foreseeable.

Thanks in advance.

The efficiency while “granny” charging is very poor. Based on the time estimates the car gives I think it’s throwing about 25% of the energy away.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

The efficiency while “granny” charging is very poor. Based on the time estimates the car gives I think it’s throwing about 25% of the energy away.

It is generally poorer than charging at higher current for most EVs, but it does vary a great deal from model to model, primarily due to the variation in fixed losses between chargers.

For example, an early Leaf charger can be around 85% to 90% efficient at 10 A, whereas a Zoe may be a heck of a lot worse, perhaps no better than around 60% to 70% efficient. To be fair, the Zoe is a bit of an oddball, as it's OBC seems to have both a pretty dire PF and be particularly inefficient at low current, whilst the early Leaf is very much the opposite, perhaps because it's OBC is only rated at around 14 A maximum IIRC.