FAQs about Octopus Go, the tariff just for EV drivers

The Go tariff features two unit rates:

• A peak unit price – the price you'll be charged per unit of energy you use most of the time, between 05:30 and 00:30. This rate varies depending where you are in the UK.
• An off-peak unit price – what you'll be charged per unit of energy used between 00:30 and 05:30. This is 8.5p / kWh, no matter where you are.

There's also a standing charge, which again varies depending where you live in the UK.

Energy rates change by region. You can check what unit rates and standing charge apply in your area on this page. Octopus Go rates are changing from 1 July 2024. You can check the new rates by region here.

Yes. Go's innovative pricing is only possible through smart meter tech. We need to be able to link to your smart meter automatically too, which means to get on Go, you must:

a) already be supplied by Octopus

b) have a SMETS2 or Secure SMETS1 smart meter that we can take half hourly readings from

Not with Octopus yet?

Join Octopus Energy on an interim tariff through this link, and we'll contact you to book a smart meter appointment once you've switched.

Yes, Outgoing Octopus is now compatible with Octopus Go!

Previously, you couldn’t be on Outgoing Octopus and Octopus Go at the same time – you could only benefit from Outgoing Lite at 8 p/kWh or Smart Export Guarantee at 4.1p/kWh.

Go is a smart tariff. This means that you need to have a SMETS2 or Secure SMETS1 smart meter installed before you can join the tariff. Trouble is, we're not allowed to book you an installation appointment until you've fully switched to us, which means you do need to sign up to Octopus on a standard tariff first in the interim.

All our tariffs have great, competitive rates, and you shouldn't have to wait too long for a smart meter.

Join Octopus Energy on an interim tariff through this link, and we'll contact you to book a smart meter appointment once you've switched.

If you've got any other questions, do get in touch for further information on this.

Fear not. We have partnerships with a few different smart charging trailblazers, like Ohme, the UK's first smart home charging cable, which can automatically turn charge mode on when the 'off-peak' charging period kicks in.

Get in touch with Octopus Electric Vehicles for info on a state-of-the-art smart charger.

Of course! During this 5 hour off peak period, any electricity you use will be charged at 8.5p/kWh.

You can even automate stuff to come on using smart plugs and neat, simple to set up integrations with Alexa and IFTTT – check out some smart home hacks from our brilliant customers.

No. Octopus Go is an electricity tariff, created for drivers to charge their electric cars. This kind of smart tariff passes on the benefits of the UK electricity market's wholesale prices, which are highly variable through the day. Wholesale gas prices don’t really vary throughout the day, so a Go gas tariff wouldn't really be able to have that same amazing off-peak rate.

If you're a dual fuel customer, we can supply you gas too, of course. Just choose one of our standard gas tariffs, which you can get a quote for any time at www.octopus.energy/quote.

Yes! Choose 'electricity only' at signup.

Number one and most important: no matter what your IHD says, your off-peak period stays between 00:30 and 05:30.

Why is my IHD saying something different?

This SHOULD be straightforward – but some customers have noticed that their in-home display (part of the smart meter infrastructure) shows the cheap rate kicking in at 01:30 following a clock change.

On your bills, it'll say the cheap period starts at 00:30. This is obviously pretty confusing, and makes it hard to know which is correct. The challenge is that the IHD is not “determining” anything. It’s just displaying some information, and in the journey from Octopus to DCC (the government’s data company, which handles smart meter data), to TMA (a company who connect Octopus’s smart meters to DCC), to the comms hub (a regulated device which carries the signal to the smart meter), to the smart meter itself, to the IHD (which sits on a different network, established by your electricity meter) there are many steps – each of which may pass the time signal as it is, or may “helpfully” correct it from GMT to BST etc.

There are quite a few different ways to get a message to the IHD and some are simpler than others, but allow less functionality – so we’re trying to use the smartest way... but it’s also the most complex.

The Octopus Go tariff works with any EV or charger and offers low charging rates within a 4-hour window.

Intelligent Octopus Go needs to connect with your car or charger and only works with selected brands. Once connected, Intelligent Octopus Go will automatically charge your EV at the cheapest times of the day.