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Why the Meter Matters
EV tariffs price electricity by the half hour, cheap overnight, standard by day. The smart meter is what proves when your electricity was used. It reads your whole home usage in half hourly blocks and sends it to the supplier automatically, which is how the 8p hours end up 8p on the bill.
An older meter cannot do that, so the supplier has no way to apply the cheap window. That is the whole requirement. It is not about the charger, it is about billing.
If you already have a smart meter, check it is running in smart mode with your current supplier. First generation SMETS1 meters mostly work now too, having been remotely upgraded onto the national network, but a SMETS2 unit is the guaranteed route.
Getting One Is Free
Suppliers are obliged to install smart meters free of charge on request, and switching to an EV tariff is exactly when they prioritise it. Allow around four weeks from request to installation in most areas. If you are planning a charger install, start the smart meter request at the same time as the survey and the two usually land together.
We flag the meter situation during every survey, so nobody discovers the missing piece after the charger is on the wall.
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If Your Home Cannot Get One
A small number of properties have signal problems that stop a smart meter connecting. Options still exist. Legacy Economy 7 setups keep their off peak rates where already installed. Some flexibility schemes reward off peak charging without a smart meter. And any charger we fit still schedules charging into whatever cheap window you have.
It is a narrowing problem, network coverage improves every year, and a failed install today is worth retrying in six months.
