EV tariffs: how do their features compare?

An electric car plugged into a home charger at dusk

Picture a normal evening: you get home at six, plug in the car and need about 30 kWh before morning. Every tariff here promises a cheaper way to charge. The useful question is what happens between plugging in and leaving again.

Some plans give the whole house a lower rate overnight, so you could run the dishwasher or fill a home battery at the same time. Others discount only car charging that the supplier schedules, usually by crediting your bill afterwards. Your home battery stays on its usual rate. Let's look at the hours, prices and extras with that difference in mind.

First, the clock

How long is the cheaper window?

If the car sits on the drive all night, all six of these plans offer at least five cheaper hours for the house. Orange shows the set window. A smart plan may add more hours when it schedules your car, but you can't count on those extra hours every night.

EDF GoElectric23:00–06:00 · 7 hours

Intelligent Octopus Go23:30–05:30 · 6 hours

E.ON Next Drive / Smart00:00–06:00 · 6 hours*

Octopus Go00:30–05:30 · 5 hours

British Gas EV Power00:00–05:00 · 5 hours

ScottishPower EV Saver01:00–06:00 in BST for most meters† · 5 hours

UK clock times, crossing midnight. Sources are linked in the table below. *E.ON's Next Drive product page shows six hours; another official page lists a seven-hour version. †ScottishPower says most meters follow GMT (00:00–05:00 in winter); some SMETS1 models keep 00:00–05:00 year-round. Check your exact tariff and meter.

OVO Charge Anytime and ScottishPower EV Optimise sit outside this chart. They discount eligible car charging that they schedule, while the rest of your home stays on its usual rate. That matters if you also want to charge a home battery cheaply. EV Optimise excludes 16:00–20:00.

Next, the offer

Price, hours and the catches

The hours narrow the field. Now compare what each plan covers and whether your car or charger qualifies. These advertised prices were checked on 1 October 2026.

Nine EV plans: advertised charging rate, cheap hours, coverage and conditions
Plan	Advertised rate	Cheap hours	What gets the rate?	Worth knowing
Intelligent Octopus GoOctopus · smart schedule	From 8p/kWh	23:30–05:30 6 hours + eligible smart slots	Whole home overnight; qualifying extra smart slots also cover home use.	Compatible car or charger. Six-hour EV allowance described in the rollout; see the cap note below. Current offer lists £50 early exit fee.
Octopus GoOctopus · set your own timer	9.5p/kWh on the sampled fix below	00:30–05:30 5 hours	Whole home in the fixed window.	Any EV / charger; communicating smart meter required. No Intelligent connection needed.
Next Drive SmartE.ON Next · smart schedule	8.5p/kWh	00:00–06:00 6 hours + smart slots	Whole home overnight and during scheduled extra slots.	Check car / charger eligibility; use the E.ON Next Home app. No exit fees advertised; peak-time Boost costs more.
Next DriveE.ON Next · fixed window	10p/kWh*	00:00–06:00* 6 hours on this offer	Whole home in the fixed window.	One-year fix; no exit fees advertised. E.ON also lists a different version: confirm the quote, not just the name.
GoElectricEDF · optional smart bolt-on	6.66p/kWh	23:00–06:00 7 hours	Whole home; extra scheduled windows with eligible Smart Charging.	Any EV / charger for the base plan. Optional compatible smart connection adds £5/month credit, subject to regular use and terms. Base tariff lists £75 exit fee.
EV PowerBritish Gas · fixed window	9.5p/kWh	00:00–05:00 5 hours	Whole home in the fixed window.	Any EV / home charger for the tariff. Eligible Hive Power+ charging can add a 25% EV discount; check separate conditions.
EV SaverScottishPower · fixed window	8.5p/kWh	00:00–05:00 GMT 5 hours; BST caveat above	Metered electricity in the night window.	EV and home charger required. Check whether your meter's window shifts with the clocks.
Charge Anytime PAYGOVO · EV-only add-on	14p/kWh	Supplier-scheduled No fixed home window	Eligible smart EV charging only, via account credit.	Compatible EV or charger. Monthly bundles are a separate option; don't compare their allowance with an unlimited per-kWh rate.
EV OptimiseScottishPower · EV-only add-on	8p/kWh	Supplier-scheduled Not 16:00–20:00	Eligible smart EV charging only, via bill credit.	Compatible EV, home charger and communicating meter. Cannot add it to EV, Heat or Solar Saver tariffs.

*The Next Drive product page shows 10p and 00:00–06:00; E.ON's smart-tariff overview lists Next Drive Fixed V31 at 8.5p and 00:00–07:00. These are not interchangeable quotes. We have used the dedicated product page for the table and chart.

Then, your postcode

Same EV plan, different day rate

Suppose Octopus Go looks right for your routine. In these six electricity regions, its sampled fixed plan has the same 9.5p night rate. The day rate and standing charge change with your location, so two drivers doing the same night charge can still get different household bills.

Octopus Go · 12-month fix 00:30–05:30 · 9.50p/kWh

Monthly Direct Debit · API prices including VAT
Electricity region	Day p/kWh	Night p/kWh	Standing p/day
London	34.48	9.50	42.29
North West England	35.54	9.50	44.85
South West England	36.17	9.50	55.52
South Wales	35.66	9.50	54.36
South & Central Scotland	34.97	9.50	61.44
North Scotland	36.25	9.50	55.28

The standing charge in the South and Central Scotland example comes to about £5.74 more over 30 days than in London. The car costs the same to charge at night, but the rest of the bill can change. Get a quote for your postcode before you choose.

Snapshot for 1 October 2026, product GO-FIX-12M-26-09-29 (Octopus Go 12M Fixed September 2026 v2). Rounded to two decimals. These are GB electricity regions; Northern Ireland isn't represented. This is one supplier's regional example, not a postcode comparison of all nine plans. Sources: the Octopus pricing API and our dated rate snapshot. This article does not refresh prices automatically.

Back to your car

How many hours do you need for a typical charge?

Say your car has a 60 kWh usable battery and you need to add 50%. That's 30 kWh into the battery. Allowing for charging losses, it takes roughly four hours and 46 minutes at a steady 7 kW, so five cheaper hours should cover it. Enter your battery size and the percentage you need below.

EV battery size (kWh) Charge to add 50% Charging power

Estimated time at steady power4 hr 46 min

30 kWh into the battery · about 33.3 kWh from the socket

Your top-up fits within five cheaper hours at this power.

5 hours

53%

6 hours

63%

7 hours

74%

Bars show how much of the battery each window could fill. The dark tick is the percentage you need. Estimates allow 10% charging loss; real power and losses vary, and smart charging may pause. Tariff hours don't guarantee the same smart charging allowance.

Want to use this without the article? Open the free EV charging time calculator.

Don't forget the daytime rate

A longer cheap window isn't automatically the cheaper bill. Say one quote saves 2p per kWh on the car but adds 4p to daytime use. Over a month with 200 kWh of charging and 300 kWh of daytime home use, the car saves £4 while the house costs £12 more. You're £8 worse off before standing charges. These example rates are illustrative.

Car charging−£4200 kWh × 2p saved

Daytime home use£12300 kWh × 4p extra

Monthly difference£8Before standing charges

A home battery makes the whole-home window more useful if it can charge cheaply and cover later demand. Solar adds another question: what export rate would you give up by using that energy in the car instead? Compare the complete import and export quotes, including any equipment subscription and exit fee.

What about the extras?

EDF's Smart Charging bolt-on advertises £5 back each month when you remain eligible and use it regularly. British Gas advertises a separate Hive Power+ EV discount. Octopus offers Electroverse discounts to its EV tariff customers. These can be useful, but only if they fit how you charge.

OVO also offers monthly Charge Anytime bundles with home-charging allowances and public-charging vouchers. The standard plan currently lists £27.50 a month for up to 175 kWh of smart home charging, plus a £120 annual public voucher and charger cover. It depends how much of each benefit you'll actually use.

Free-electricity events are different again. Octopus Weekend Happy Hours need earned rewards and a booking. They can make a good charging day even better, though the events won't be there every night.

So which one suits you?

First check the car or charger connection, then compare a month of your actual home and charging use against the full quote. Make sure you could live with the ready-by rules and the price of an urgent charge. If those fit, the last penny on the night rate becomes a much easier decision.

Wattlas can show supported charger readings alongside home energy, tariff rates and smart charging slots. Our real Intelligent Octopus Go screenshot shows the slots beside the car's charging and the electricity price. The supplier or charger still controls the schedule. Check the supported connections for your setup. To compare the cost of driving electric with petrol or diesel, try the free running cost calculator: you can enter your quoted home charging rate and public charging share.

Independent editorial comparison, not an affiliate ranking. Not every UK plan is included. Rates and availability can change; your personalised quote and contract take priority. Sources are supplier product pages linked above, checked 1 October 2026. Comparison graphics are illustrations, not Wattlas app screenshots.