Do you think that the UK switching to electric vehicles is realistic?

[HSTEd]

Related to earlier discussions, especially on the controversial rail opinion thread, Octopus now offer a flat rate subscription for scheduled electric car charging.

It is called "Intelligent Drive Pack", you pay £30 a month and tell them when you need the car, and they arrange the charging accordingly.

 

[Mawkie]

It is called "Intelligent Drive Pack", you pay £30 a month and tell them when you need the car, and they arrange the charging accordingly.

Maybe I've misunderstood, but they later reference £20 a month. https://octopus.energy/octopus-smart-tariffs/intelligent-drive-pack-rates/

In any case, doesn't £30 a month seem quite expensive for people who can charge at home at 5p per unit?

Now, if this scheme was for those that couldn't charge at home...

 

[HSTEd]

Maybe I've misunderstood, but they later reference £20 a month. https://octopus.energy/octopus-smart-tariffs/intelligent-drive-pack-rates/

In any case, doesn't £30 a month seem quite expensive for people who can charge at home at 5p per unit?

Now, if this scheme was for those that couldn't charge at home...

That appears to be a typo, I'm not sure whats going on there. Perhaps the price changed at the last minute?

They offer 7p/kWh charging on Intelligent Octopus Go otherwise, so you'd have to be charging about 14kWh per day to be worth it.

 

[jon0844]

A lot of people with mobile contracts offering unlimited data don't ever really use much, but it gives peace of mind and might prove popular for this reason.

And it might even encourage people to use their EV more (some might not see that as a good thing) although considering many cars will be leased, some owners won't be able to make full use of the offering unless they opted to pay more per month for the car.

 

[Energy]

That appears to be a typo, I'm not sure whats going on there. Perhaps the price changed at the last minute?

They offer 7p/kWh charging on Intelligent Octopus Go otherwise, so you'd have to be charging about 14kWh per day to be worth it.

14 kWh is 42-70mi per day, depending on how efficient your car is (3-5mi/kWh, most will be on the higher end of that). It might be worth it for some, but most drive nowhere near that much.

It would be nice to see an Electroverse discount card like the Ionity subscriptions. The Ionity one is great, but only Ionity chargers is a bit limiting.

 

[Mawkie]

They offer 7p/kWh charging on Intelligent Octopus Go otherwise, so you'd have to be charging about 14kWh per day to be worth it.

With average consumption of 4.5 miles per kWh, doesn't that mean 63 miles per day, or 23k miles a year?

With the average UK annual mileage being 7.5k, this deal seems unsuitable for the vast majority of electric car users, no?

On a wider note, most people understand that something has a price - that has to cover R&D, production, distribution, maintenance, etc. It's not complicated.

These kinds of schemes only serve to obfuscate the real costs of ownership in my opinion. The idea that I need to join some kind of 'loyalty' card scheme like Ionity (where I can not pay and get a small discount, or pay a bit and get a bigger discount, or pay a lot and get an even bigger discount) or Electroverse (and not pay for it) is just silly.

 

[HSTEd]

With the average UK annual mileage being 7.5k, this deal seems unsuitable for the vast majority of electric car users, no?

Most likely yes, but at the same time, there will be a significant number of people for whom it is worthwhile.

 

[jon0844]

Most likely yes, but at the same time, there will be a significant number of people for whom it is worthwhile.

It could be amazing for high mileage drivers. While I know most people don't drive much, the common argument against EVs is the need to do hundreds of miles so surely those people who do can't dispute that £30 a month is going to be way cheaper than petrol or diesel.

 

[Mawkie]

It could be amazing for high mileage drivers. While I know most people don't drive much, the common argument against EVs is the need to do hundreds of miles so surely those people who do can't dispute that £30 a month is going to be way cheaper than petrol or diesel.

Octopus reference a fair use policy, but then don't explain what it is.

 

[Sun Chariot]

It could be amazing for high mileage drivers. While I know most people don't drive much, the common argument against EVs is the need to do hundreds of miles so surely those people who do can't dispute that £30 a month is going to be way cheaper than petrol or diesel.

Offset against their lease costs for annual mileage that high. Unless they shelled out the cash for upfront purchase.

 

[jon0844]

Octopus reference a fair use policy, but then don't explain what it is.

I believe it can't be for commercial use (so that would likely be vans or cars used as taxis). This is from reading discussions from other people who looked into things a bit more.

Offset against their lease costs for annual mileage that high. Unless they shelled out the cash for upfront purchase.

Yes, I did mention that. However there are some incredible deals on LeaseLoco for some very high end, high spec cars and the adjustment for mileage doesn't actually make that much difference a lot of the time.

Shop the deal, not the car.

You would also need to factor in the wear and tear and maintenance costs for doing high mileage. Maybe the EV costs more but is it far cheaper for servicing every year or two? You'd look at the total cost once everything is combined.

 

[Sun Chariot]

You'd look at the total cost once everything is combined.

The voice of reason - I completely agree. It is overlooked too often, when the headline "deal", or a single cost element, are seen in isolation
I preach a Total Cost of Ownership mantra in my job, too.

 

[Noddy]

It would be nice to see an Electroverse discount card like the Ionity subscriptions. The Ionity one is great, but only Ionity chargers is a bit limiting.

Electroverse seem to be going down the route of CPO (charge point operator) specific in App subscriptions rather than one overarching subscription. Currently there are a few of these CPO subscriptions available abroad, but the only one for the UK is 20% off at Be.EV for £9 per month. Shell Recharge was available but seems to have been withdrawn which doesn’t bode that well... They really need to introduce a few more, with clearer pricing, otherwise it seems a bit pointless. Like you say one overall subscription would be better but I suspect there a contractural reasons why this is unlikely to happen.