Octopus Electroverse review: how the card and app work, prices and networks

Octopus Electroverse is a free app and RFID card from Octopus Energy that lets you find, start and pay for public charges on more than 1,300 networks with one account. It uses the rates each network’s operator provides and charges no subscription or transaction fees, so it saves money through its discounts: 5% or 8% for Octopus EV tariff customers, Plunge Pricing events and optional network subscriptions.

Electroverse does not own any chargers. It is a roaming service, which means it sits between you and the charge point operator, uses the operator’s rates and bills you for every network in one place. That makes it a convenience first and a saving second. This review rests on Electroverse’s own published terms, Zapmap’s price data and gov.uk rules, not on a road trip by EV Compared; for its closest rival, see our Octopus Electroverse vs Bonnet comparison.

What is Octopus Electroverse and who runs it?

Electroverse is run by Octopus Energy, the UK electricity supplier, and you do not need to buy your electricity from Octopus to use it. Its FAQ answers that question with “everyone is welcome”. Electroverse says 1,426,060 chargers work with the service, from partners including Allego, Ionity, InstaVolt, Shell Recharge and Be.EV.

Octopus said on 30 July 2026 that one million UK drivers have signed up to Electroverse, which it put at half of the fully electric cars on UK roads, and that hundreds of thousands of charging sessions run through the app every week. In Europe it claims access to more than 1.5 million public charge points, about nine in 10, and it now also works in North America.

The service has two parts. The Electroverse app, on iOS and Android, shows chargers on a map with their speed, live availability and facilities, plans charging routes tailored to your car, and works through Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Electrocard is a free RFID card you tap on a compatible charger to start a session.

How much does Octopus Electroverse cost per kWh?

Electroverse charges the rate the charge point operator provides and adds no subscription, sign-up or transaction fee. The rate in the app is the rate you pay, though Electroverse warns it can occasionally differ from paying the operator directly. Its help pages list four parts a price can have: an energy price per kWh, a time price per minute, an operator idle fee per minute once the car has stopped drawing power, and a one-off connection fee.

Octopus does not publish one Electroverse price list by speed, so the table below uses Zapmap’s UK pay-as-you-go averages for the networks’ own prices.

Charger speed	UK average price (October 2026)	With 5% Octopus Go discount	With 8% Intelligent Octopus Go discount
Standard and fast, 3 to 49 kW	54p/kWh	51.3p/kWh	49.7p/kWh
Rapid and ultra-rapid, 50 kW and above	82p/kWh	77.9p/kWh	75.4p/kWh

Zapmap updated these averages on 5 November 2026, and we checked them on 10 November 2026. Across the 10 biggest rapid networks, Zapmap found prices from 51p to 93p/kWh in October 2026, with InstaVolt at 92p/kWh, so the network you pick matters more than the app you pay with. Our report on public charging prices this autumn covers the individual networks.

What does a 10 to 80% charge cost through Electroverse?

A 10 to 80% rapid charge at the 82p/kWh average costs between £25.77 and £47.36 for the three cars below. EV Compared worked these out by multiplying 70% of each car’s usable battery from our spec data by the price per kWh, ignoring charging losses; our methodology explains the inputs.

Car	Usable battery	Energy for 10 to 80%	At 54p/kWh (fast)	At 82p/kWh (rapid)	At 82p less 8% (Intelligent Octopus Go)
BYD Dolphin Active	44.9 kWh	31.4 kWh	£16.97	£25.77	£23.71
Omoda E5 Knight	58.9 kWh	41.2 kWh	£22.26	£33.81	£31.10
BYD Sealion 7 Comfort RWD	82.5 kWh	57.8 kWh	£31.19	£47.36	£43.57

The 8% discount saves £2.06 on the Dolphin and £3.79 on the Sealion 7 per rapid charge. That is useful on a long trip, but it is small next to the gap between home and public prices: Zapmap puts the price cap at around 26p/kWh and an off-peak EV tariff at around 8.1p/kWh. If you are buying an Omoda E5 with a free Octopus charger or £1,000 of charging credit, the home charger will do more for your running costs than any public discount.

How do you pay with Electroverse: app, card or Octopus bill?

You pay with a debit or credit card saved in the app. The Electroverse FAQ lists a payment card as the supported method and says billing happens straight after each session. Octopus Energy customers can normally link their energy account instead, with the previous week’s sessions added to their energy statement each Monday; the link needs the same email address on both accounts, a healthy balance and an active Direct Debit. Electroverse’s help centre says paying through Octopus is temporarily switched off, so for now a card is the way to pay.

Contactless is the alternative. Under the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023, every charger of 50 kW and above, and every new charger of 8 kW and above, must take contactless. Slower and older chargers, such as many lamp-post and car park units, do not have to, which is where the Electrocard and app earn their place.

The same regulations require every operator to accept payment through at least one third-party roaming provider, which is the kind of service Electroverse is. Our guide to EV charging payment apps compares the alternatives.

Is an Electroverse subscription worth it?

An Electroverse subscription is worth it only if you charge on that single network often enough to cover the fee. Electroverse sells optional plans that cut the price on one network, and they can be cancelled at any time, though some have a one-month minimum term.

Subscription (UK)	Monthly fee	Discount	Break-even at 82p/kWh	Break-even in an Omoda E5
Ionity	£10.50	40%	32.0 kWh	145 miles
Be.EV	£9.99	51%	23.9 kWh	108 miles
Arnold Clark	£8.99	29%	37.8 kWh	171 miles
Shell Recharge	£9.99	25%	48.7 kWh	221 miles

EV Compared worked out the break-even by dividing the monthly fee by the pence saved per kWh at Zapmap’s 82p/kWh rapid average, then converting kWh to miles with the Omoda E5’s WLTP figure of 267 miles from 58.9 kWh, or 4.53 miles per kWh. Real-world efficiency is lower than WLTP, especially in winter, so the true break-even mileage is lower; a network priced below 82p pushes the kWh figure up. Ionity’s plan applies in 24 countries, so it suits drivers who take the car to Europe. For Shell Recharge’s own prices and app, see our network guide.

Free discounts need no sign-up. Electroverse lists 15% off at Evyve chargers and 20% off across Source EV from 27 October, applied automatically, and a free hot drink at Arnold Clark Charge sites during opening hours. Referring a friend gives you each £5 of credit after their first charge.

What is Plunge Pricing?

Plunge Pricing is an Electroverse discount on partner chargers when renewable generation is high and wholesale prices fall. Electroverse says a Plunge Price can be 20% off one day and up to 50% off the following week, and it posts each event at least 24 hours ahead. Octopus ran 84 Plunge Pricing sessions in the UK and France in 2026 up to the end of July, and in France it launched in March 2026 on Powerdot’s network.

For Octopus EV tariff customers, the standing 5% or 8% discount is the more dependable saving. Our guide to Electroverse for Octopus EV tariff customers explains how to link the accounts.

Where are the chargers?

Electroverse reaches chargers across the UK’s public network because it roams onto existing operators rather than building its own. Zapmap counted 98,899 public charging devices at 48,815 UK locations at the end of October 2026, and Electroverse’s 1,426,060 figure covers the UK, Europe and the rest of the world combined. Octopus does not publish a UK-only count, so the map in the app is the place to check whether your regular chargers are included: each charger’s access information shows “Electroverse App” where it works.

How reliable is Electroverse, and are there idle fees?

Electroverse is as reliable as the charger you plug into, because the hardware and its uptime belong to the operator. The regulations require each operator’s rapid network to be available 99% of the time across a year, with compliance published on the operator’s website, and every charger must advertise a free, staffed helpline open 24 hours a day. The app’s live availability helps you avoid a busy or broken site before you arrive.

Idle fees are set by the operator, not Electroverse, and are passed on. They are charged per minute once your car is plugged in but has stopped drawing power, so move the car when the session ends. Our ranking of the most reliable charging networks shows which operators keep their chargers working.

How do you use Electroverse, step by step?

Once your account and card are set up, starting a charge takes a few taps.

1. Download the Electroverse app and sign up; Electroverse says it takes under 30 seconds.
2. Add a debit or credit card; paying through a linked Octopus Energy account is temporarily switched off.
3. Order the free Electrocard from the app. It takes up to 14 working days to arrive and up to 24 hours to activate.
4. Find a charger on the app’s map and check its speed, availability and live price.
5. To use the app, open the charger, tap “Start Charge” before plugging in, then tap it again once connected. To use the card, tap it on the charger’s reader.
6. To stop in the app, drag the “slide to stop” bar to the right, then unplug and move the car.

Who is Electroverse for?

Electroverse suits drivers without one favourite network: people who charge at a mix of rapid hubs on long trips, rely on lamp-post or car park chargers without contactless, or drive in Europe. It suits Octopus Go and Intelligent Octopus Go customers most, because the 5% or 8% discount applies on every network for nothing.

It suits less well a driver who charges mostly at one network, where that operator’s own app or a subscription can be cheaper, and anyone who expects it to beat the network’s price on its own: its rates come from the operators, so the savings come from discounts. For most UK drivers the bigger saving is a home charger on an off-peak tariff, and Best Chargers covers choosing one.

Our verdict, based on published prices and terms rather than our own testing: Electroverse is a sensible card and app to carry for occasional public charging, because it is free, charges no subscription or transaction fees and covers more than 1,300 networks. Treat its discounts as a bonus, and do the subscription sums before paying a monthly fee.