Off-peak, surge pricing, after hours – call it whatever you will, but tiered pricing models are now commonplace in modern life. From train tickets to gym memberships to taxi rides, it’s not unexpected to pay more for something at busier times.
For EV drivers of course, domestic off peak smart EV tariffs are very familiar, taking the concept a step further from the old Economy 7 rates of the 1970s and 1980s. The ability to charge overnight at a fraction of the standard electricity price is a great way to reduce your motoring costs.
Off peak rates at public EV chargers
Reducing those costs when using a public EV charger however, is a different matter. We’ve spoken here about how you can reduce the charging costs slightly by using a particular firm’s app or going via Octopus’s Electroverse app, but you may not be familiar with reduced rates for using public chargers during quieter, off-peak times.
Just as with the home off-peak tariffs, the likes of Instavolt and Osprey offer lower rates at less busy times. Purely from a commercial point of view, for a public charging company it makes sense to try and maximise the usage of your chargers as much as possible at all times of day and all days of the week.
When using their app for example, Osprey offers a reduced weekend rate at its chargers which is 10% cheaper than their usual rate and also offers cheaper night-time rates via the Electroverse app.
Instavolt, by comparison, offers a cheaper overnight rate from 8pm until 7am if you go through the Instavolt app.
What is Plunge Pricing with Octopus Electroverse?
This is one advantage of using the Octopus Electroverse app for your public charging. If you have your notifications turned on, then this alerts you when there is an excess of renewable energy on the grid and a plunge pricing event is likely to happen – shown by a green leaf on the side of the screen.
This is especially useful if you regularly use a particular public charger close to your home that you can easily access at short notice and visit when these events occur. It also means you don’t need to keep on top of all the different charging firms and when they might offer a lower rate, you can just use the Electroverse app.
The only downside of plunge pricing us that you don’t have much notice about when it’s likely to happen. So if you’re planning a trip, don’t depend on that lower rate, whereas those off peak times for the other providers mentioned earlier are constant.
What are the advantages of flexible rates for public EV chargers?
For customers, the most obvious one is cost. If you’re able to use a public charger within the allotted discounted hours, then obviously you’re going to get more for your money.
And, as we said earlier, for the charger companies it helps them to maximise usage of their chargers and locations, especially at times when they might not normally be so popular.
What are the disadvantages of flexible rates for public EV chargers?
Don’t get us wrong, were not about to complain about saving money, that’s definitely a good thing.
Also, if the off-peak rates encourage some local drivers to leave their charging until those times, it also keeps the chargers free in peak times for others.
So why is any of that a disadvantage? Perhaps the wider question should be to think about the nature of public chargers themselves. Unlike domestic charging, using a public charger is an inconvenience or a distress purchase. Any EV driver, given the option, would far rather charge at home, knowing the huge price difference to do so. So unless that driver is on a particularly long journey, it will only ever be a short charge to get them home. After all, why pay 75p/kWh or more when at home the same charge is available at 7p/kWh?
The fact is that the majority of drivers will have little to no control about how and when they arrive at a public EV charger, let alone have the wherewithal to consciously factor in those off-peak savings.
Domestic off peak rates can fit seamlessly into an EV driver’s lifestyle as most cars are parked overnight. With public chargers however, it’s harder because to take advantage of the off-peak rates because that responsibility of flexibility is forced onto the driver to change their plans accordingly, when they may not enjoy that much control.
The reality is that off-peak rates for public EV chargers might not necessarily be a disadvantage, it’s just that they may not be quite the advantage that they first seem. Plus, with the price difference between peak and off-peak not always being that large, the incentive to intentionally take advantage of them is also significantly reduced.