How Alan unlocked huge savings with his Octopus EV

Alan: Incredibly easy. When I was ready to get my new car, I ordered it online through Octopus EV's salary sacrifice programme, because it was the best fit for me and my business. Alongside the ease and convenience of the scheme, there are lots of tax and national insurance benefits to getting a car through salary sacrifice.

I also got a free charger, and a 4,000-mile credit for EV charging! It's a win-win, honestly.

Alan: To put it simply, the cost. Getting an electric vehicle has saved me thousands of pounds over the years, and getting one was a no-brainer. Environmental concerns are crucial but to be perfectly honest, the financial benefits were the driving force for me.

I got my first electric car, the Nissan Leaf for my 50-mile daily commute, to cut down my £200 monthly petrol expenses. I later replaced our expensive family diesel car with a Kona EV and, a year ago, switched to a Tesla via Octopus which I'm super happy with.

Alan: I've actually been with Octopus for about 6 years. At the time, I was looking around for the best tariff, and Octopus was winning lots of awards in green energy. So we made the switch and when I got the electric car, I did some research online and discovered Octopus also had an excellent reputation for their tariffs so I decided to make it a package deal.

Alan: I love it! Getting a car was a quick and easy process, and joining Electroverse was seamless. I was on the Octopus Go tariff initially, but quickly moved over to Intelligent Octopus Go which has allowed me to save so much money. I hardly ever need to contact customer service with any queries because it's so straightforward.

Alan: On the Tesla, it's around 12,000 miles, and on my other electric car, it's about 10,000, so a total of approximately 22,000 miles per year for our two cars. It’s quite high, but I typically only charge my cars 2 or 3 times a week and I use the app to stay on top of my usage. The charging infrastructure is also always expanding and I don’t have to worry where I’m going to charge my car during a long road trip. Just last week, we took the Tesla through narrow roads in Wales without any issues. I just added the address to my GPS, and the car directed me to the best place to charge it along the way. It’s amazing.

Alan: With my Intelligent Octopus Go Tariff, I pay only 7.5p per kWh for charging at home, compared to around 40p or higher at public chargers. The tariff also provides a guaranteed super cheap rate between 11:30 PM and 5:30 AM, which is fantastic. We use approximately 1,000 kWh of energy per month, which totals £75. This is much less than what I used to spend on petrol. Fully charging my car costs about £3.50, whereas using petrol for the same distance would cost about £49.

Alan: It’s been super straightforward. I plug it in about 3 times a week, usually at night when rates are lower. It's so easy - I just pull into the driveway, plug it in, and it won't start charging until the cheaper rates kick in later at night. The tariff automatically calculates when there's surplus energy on the grid and charges my car when it's most cost-effective. I can even specify the percentage I want it to charge which is very convenient. Over time, it's become second nature. I plug it in, and by morning, my car is fully charged.

Alan: Yes I decided to get battery storage alongside my Tesla last year which was a great choice as it’s been a massive cost-saver as well. Now, when I plug in my car in the evenings, the charger also fills up the batteries in the garage, which we then use and discharge during the day.

Alan: What tends to happen is when you get an electric car, you start looking for economical ways to charge it, and that leads to exploring tariffs and green solutions like the batteries we installed last year. So far, we have invested in the community energy project with Ripple Energy, for the wind turbines they’re building. We’re also considering getting air source heat pumps and solar panels in the future.

Alan: Absolutely. When I first got into EVs five or six years ago, hardly anyone had one. But now, many of my friends have made the switch to EVs and other green energy products, even people you wouldn't expect, all because of the huge savings. And the industry has massively improved over the past few years so there's a lot more choice now.

Alan: I would highly recommend it, especially as more options reach the market and they become more and more affordable and accessible. There are so many benefits, from financial to environmental to the simplicity of it all. So, my advice would be to do your own research, and talk to people with first hand experience.