Octopus Energy has reached the landmark of managing more than 100MW of electric car charging power via its ‘Intelligent Octopus’ smart tariff – surpassing the largest battery on the grid.

The 100MW+ combined capacity of the car batteries on Intelligent Octopus is more power than the Minety Battery Storage Facility in Wiltshire

Launched in 2022, Intelligent Octopus is the UK’s first 100% flexible car charging tariff, providing cheap, clean electricity for 10p per kilowatt hour (kWh) when the grid is less busy.

This allows an average driver to charge their electric vehicle for less than a third of what it would cost to charge up on a standard variable tariff, reducing fuel costs to about 3p per mile.

It works by allowing Intelligent Octopus customers to use the Octopus Energy app to set the time (and amount) they want their vehicle charged by. The company’s energy technology platform – Kraken – then works in the background to automatically charge the cars up when there is abundant, low-cost energy, helping to balance out demand and supply on the grid.

This enables Intelligent Octopus to help support a flexible grid that doesn’t require expensive balancing costs – cutting energy bills.

The 100MW+ combined capacity of the car batteries on Intelligent Octopus is more power than the Minety Battery Storage Facility in Wiltshire, currently the largest battery on the grid. It’s also enough energy to power a city the size of Leicester for an hour.

Alex Schoch, head of flexibility at Octopus Energy, commented: “We urgently need to build flexible grid technology to turbocharge the green energy system. The tariff acts as a virtual power plant, shifting demand out of peak times and therefore cutting bills for everyone.

“As more electric cars take the road and steal market share from old-school gas-guzzlers, we need even more solutions like Intelligent Octopus to handle the extra devices, increase the grid’s resilience and promote a green energy future.”

The Intelligent Octopus tariff is also used in Texas, USA, where it optimises customers’ smart thermostats.

It also forms the control mechanism for Octopus’s latest initiative, the Zero Bills home. Combined with solar panels, home battery and heat pump, the proposition guarantees zero energy bills for the homeowner – and Octopus is calling on housing developers across the UK to make it the new standard by 2030.