RELATED: Which EV chargers work with Intelligent Octopus Go?
The Night by Night Reality
You plug in when you get home and tell the app when you need the car ready and how full. Octopus’s platform picks the cheapest, greenest slots across the night and charges the car in them. Sometimes that is the core window. Sometimes it schedules extra slots outside it, and everything the car takes in those slots is billed at the cheap rate too.
The rate applies to the whole house during the core six hours. Run the dishwasher and tumble dryer after 23:30 and they ride the same 8p rate as the car. Households quickly develop a habit of shifting everything shiftable past half eleven.
Intelligent Octopus Go vs Octopus Go
| Octopus Go | Intelligent Octopus Go | |
|---|---|---|
| Off peak rate | ~9.5p per kWh | ~8p per kWh |
| Cheap hours | Fixed, 00:30 to 05:30 | 23:30 to 05:30 plus extra smart slots |
| Scheduling | You set a timer | Octopus schedules automatically |
| Charger or car requirement | Any charger works | Compatible charger or car needed |
| Best for | Simple setups, incompatible hardware | Maximum savings, hands off charging |
Plain Octopus Go is the fallback if your hardware is not on the compatibility list. A timer does the work and you still charge cheaply, just at a slightly higher rate with fewer hours.
RELATED: How much does it cost to charge an electric car at home?
What You Need to Join
Three things. A smart meter capable of half hourly readings, which Octopus installs free if needed. A compatible EV or a compatible charger, one or the other is enough. And the Octopus app to set your ready by times.
The charger route is usually the more reliable one, native integrations like Ohme’s talk to Octopus directly. We set the whole connection up at handover, so the first night home from install day is already an 8p night.
