Electricity tariffs designed around EV drivers are making it easier and cheaper to charge up at home.
If you have an electric vehicle and charge up at home, it’s likely that you’ll have seen your utility bills increase. Fortunately, new types of smart electricity tariff can help reduce the cost by offering cheaper rates at times of lower electricity demand. And the best part? Not only will you get rewarded for shifting your electricity usage, you’ll be helping make the whole electricity grid greener and more efficient too.
What are time of use tariffs?
Anyone who has lived in a flat or house that has night storage heaters or an electric hot water tank may be familiar with Economy 7 or other multi-rate electricity meters and tariffs. Traditionally, these offered 7 hours of lower cost electricity overnight so that excess electricity generated by ‘always on’ coal and nuclear power stations could be used for heating and hot water rather than wasted.
Time of use tariffs update this basic principle for an era of smart meters and an electricity grid that’s increasingly powered by renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. In a nutshell, smart time of use tariffs offer lower cost windows that encourage you to use electricity when demand is lower and electricity is cheaper – or even at times when there’s a lot of renewable power on the grid. They rely on homes having smart meters installed so that your energy supplier can accurately measure how much energy you use throughout the day.
Shifting electricity usage away from peak times (such as weekday evenings, when everyone is cooking dinner) reduces the strain on the electricity grid, means less energy is wasted and will help the grid make the most of electricity generated from renewable sources. With national electricity demand expected to grow as EVs become more widespread, smart time of use tariffs are already rewarding drivers who charge up at off-peak times with low-cost rates.
How Good Energy is supporting cheaper, greener EV charging
In nations like Britain, where around 40% of our electricity is now generated from renewable sources, EVs cause significantly fewer carbon emissions than combustion cars over their full lifecycle (including manufacture). And the good news is, emissions from the electricity used to charge up will only continue to fall as the grid becomes greener. Instead of simply waiting for that to happen, it’s possible to play an active part in making the grid greener by switching to a genuine 100% renewable electricity supplier like Good Energy.
We match all the power you use with 100% renewable electricity sourced directly from a community of over 1,600 independent generators. The more people who join us, the more power we have to buy – and the more generators we’re able to support. This model helps grow the market for renewable electricity and encourage the development of more generation sites.
We’ve also been avid supporters of EVs from the start and want to support more people go electric by making it cheaper to charge at home. Our new Green Driver tariff offers off-peak rates from as low as 5p per kWh. This makes it possible to drive up to 100 miles for less than £2*.
Visit us at Fully Charged Outside to find out more
We’ll be at Fully Charged Outside this September if you’d like to hear more about our electricity tariffs. Come and visit our stand by the Pit Stop café and test-driving area.
To celebrate the launch of our Green Driver tariff, we’re also running a competition. Race your EV round our virtual track for a chance to win a bottle of champagne!
Play Good Energy’s Rally Rivals online now or take part in our time trial contest at Fully Charged Outside, where there are even more green goodies up for grabs.
We look forward to seeing you there.
*based on an average EV using 0.29kW per mile. When charged up on the 5p per kWh off-peak rate, 100 miles = 29kW = £1.45,
About the author
Jen is an experienced copywriter dedicated to connecting people with brands that have a positive impact on the world. They write about renewable energy, electric vehicles, green technology and sustainable living for Good Energy – a 100% renewable electricity supplier that enables people to be part of a practical solution to the climate crisis.
