OCTOPUS EV: Delivering the Whole Package for a Cleaner, Fairer Future

For Octopus EV, helping customers transition to a greener and fairer world for future generations is crucial – primordial, in fact. Sister company Octopus Energy already supplies green energy to over 3.4 million UK homes and counting, with Octopus EV working tirelessly to do the same for the UK’s roads. “We couldn’t be good at what we do if we didn’t believe one thing,” the company insists. “We believe the eco-choice should be the easy choice, and while that sounds like a small thing, it’s not.”

Octopus Electric Vehicles reports that 30% of the UK’s carbon emissions comes from transport alone, and relays the rather terrifying news that air pollution is estimated to kill some 40,000 people every year. As the company points out, were this linked to, say, the water supply, the nation would rightly be in uproar. “But until recently, there hasn’t been a good alternative,” Octopus EV recognises, “and when not locked down, we’ve needed to get around – whether for work, to visit friends and family, or perhaps even get away for a holiday.

“Now, however, the car manufacturers have done something incredible, offering over 60 vehicles that we can power with wind and sunshine. Tesla kick-started the revolution, doing for cars what Apple did for our phones, but this time with tech on wheels. Here at Octopus EV, we’re on a mission to help you discover them, and make it easy and affordable to make the switch.”

TAILORED TARIFFS

To achieve this, Octopus takes care of the whole package, assures CEO at Octopus Electric Vehicles, Fiona Howarth. “We source the car itself, an at-home charging point complete with a bespoke tariff for EV drivers, and rather than having our own public charging operator, we have integrated across over 450 different networks that give access to more than 300,000 chargers across the globe via our Energy Universe card.

“Electric Universe simplifies public EV charging for drivers, helping accelerate the EV rollout by providing one card and app and its breadth of charge points is quickly expanding internationally,” Howarth unravels. At Octopus EV a range of over 65 fully maintained models all come complete with servicing and repairs to retain optimum condition, and can be ordered from the comfort of the sofa to be delivered free of charge. “In addition, we give customers the first 4000 miles free, and allow them to choose between a free home charger with Intelligent Octopus tariff credit, installed by an expert Octopus engineer, or for those without a driveway, exactly the same equivalent credit on the Electric Universe network.”

Intelligent Octopus is, quite simply, the smartest EV energy tariff on the road. It enables smart charging when it is cheapest and greenest for six hours every night at a superlatively low rate, saving up to 85% on fuel costs compared with petrol. In the UK, tariffs have arguably had more airtime in the last 12 months than over their lifetime to date combined, and as the world becomes greener, with electric vehicles proving to be the much-needed solution for zero emissions in the car industry, Octopus is well ahead of the rest.

“We have created affordable and smart tariffs to help secure the best energy rates for electric cars, designed for drivers to charge up cheaply on abundant green energy,” says Howarth. “These tariff options are for those who want to charge up in the most affordable way, with a low rate per unit of electricity used at night – while you’re resting up for the evening.”

SALARY SACRIFICE

“As Octopus EV, we specialise in Salary Sacrifice,” Howarth elaborates, and it is really in this employee benefit scheme that the company has made a name for itself. “It allows people to have the use of an electric car on a two, three or four year basis from their employer, in return for a portion of their gross salary – before income tax and national insurance and thus representing a saving of 30%-40% each month.

“One monthly payment covers the car, servicing and maintenance, tyres, breakdown cover and even insurance.

“Our team has worked tirelessly to design and deliver a scheme that makes it easy and cost-neutral for companies of all shapes and sizes to set up and run,” Howarth resumes, and the intricacy with which this has been crafted has certainly been borne out by the take-up; launched just last year, well in excess of 2000 clients, among them giants like Huel and Purplebricks, have signed up and are offering out to their employees the chance to take part.

“We are well aware that cost is a key barrier to making that switch to electric vehicles,” Howarth recognises, “however, with extremely low company car tax rates for these cars, salary sacrifice schemes make them cheaper than petrol or diesel equivalents. So, we’ve specialised in making it easy and cost-neutral for companies to set this up and offer it to their team – not to mention the 85% savings on fuel that can be made.

“Also, in July, we launched our personal proposition,” Howarth adds, “meaning that people no longer have to come via their business in order to be a leasing customer of ours and gain access to what we have come to call our ‘ultimate EV package’. We also sync the home chargers with Intelligent Octopus to charge EVs with the cheapest, greenest electrons available.”

SMART ENERGY

Vehicle to grid (V2G) technology, enabling energy stored in Electric Vehicles to be fed back into the network to bolster supply at times of peak demand, has provided Octopus EV with a UK first for next generation energy grid management, Howarth explains. “We’re looking to the future, where the worlds of electricity and cars come together, and we all have large batteries sitting outside our homes,” she explains.

“With backing from Innovate UK, the UK’s national innovation agency, our experts are running a globally market-leading demonstration project for residential V2G called Powerloop, where our car batteries can be used to store green energy for when we most need it.”

The optimisation technology behind Powerloop takes signals from the market, assessing when the grid needs energy from the vehicle and when it can use the battery to store energy. It then tells the two-way charger when to charge and discharge to the grid.

“Octopus Powerloop reinvents home energy,” Howarth beams, “allowing electric cars store green energy in the middle of the night and give it back to the grid at peak times to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. We started running this project more than four years ago, and now we have over 100 Nissan Leafs with bi-directional chargers, charging and discharging back to the grid.

“These are the first cars to operate in the National Grid’s balancing mechanism, which is a massive milestone in creating a smart energy system that matches up renewable energy with the batteries on our driveways for storage, and being able to aggregate it and offer it back to the grid when it is needed most while being compensated for it as well.”

The EV market is set to explode with growth, with 230 million EVs forecast to be on the roads globally by 2030. The UK currently has around 465,000 EVs, with the government setting forth intentions for a tenfold increase in charge points by 2030. When it comes to the future of Octopus EV, Howarth delivers an unequivocal vision with equal parts conviction and excitement.

“We want to help tens, even hundreds of thousands of people to make that switch to EV, and continue to make it as hassle-free, beneficial and enjoyable to do it. These are two things we at Octopus ultimately want to bring together – the ease of adoption, while being the best energy supplier for EV drivers.  We are well on the road to greater electrification of our society, and moving full-steam ahead to help accelerate the transition to a cheaper, greener energy future.”