UK’s Octopus Energy to offer free home EV charging with V2G product
Octopus Energy, a prominent electricity supplier in the United Kingdom, is planning to introduce a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) product to the market in the latter part of this year. This innovative offering from one of the UK’s major electricity companies will incorporate a significant benefit for customers. Specifically, the V2G product will provide free home charging for electric vehicles. This perk will be available to customers throughout the entire duration of their lease agreement. Essentially, those who participate in the Octopus Energy V2G program will be able to charge their electric vehicles at home without incurring any electricity costs, as long as they are leasing the vehicle under the terms of the program.
The company owns the UK’s largest EV-only leasing business, Octopus Electric Vehicles, and has partnered with BYD to build the new bundled service that includes a leased BYD Dolphin, a Zaptec Pro bi-directional charger and a smart domestic energy tariff that offers completely free home charging.
Vehicle-to-grid
V2G exploits the potential of EVs to act as storage batteries, charging when electricity is cheap and plentiful, and sending it back to the grid at peak times. The technology offers important support for the renewable energy sector.
The BYD Dolphin has its V2G inverter technology built into the car, so the car handles the electricity conversion required between AC-DC, removing the need for a specialist V2G charger, which is significantly more expensive than a standard wallbox.
This means drivers simply plug in their cars overnight and the technology automatically does the rest.
Game-changer
Greg Jackson, Founder of Octopus Energy Group, said: “Bi-directional charging is the game-changer for drivers and the grid. By using some of the battery’s spare capacity to help balance the grid, we can offer free driving. V2G is going to revolutionise our energy system and help drive costs down.”
Octopus has priced its Power Pack Bundle at less than £300 (€350) per month, based on a 12,000km (7,500 miles) per year contract.
BYD sees V2G possibilities
The Dolphin is BYD’s first move into the V2G sector, although it said that in future V2G capabilities and other smart charging features will be available on a wider range of its models.
Stella Li, Executive Vice President of BYD, said: “This project will allow customers to unlock the full potential of electric vehicles – not just as transport but as dynamic assets that can play a key role in supporting the grid. We’re enabling EV owners to play an active role in the energy ecosystem, reducing costs and increasing the resilience of renewable power systems.”
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