Which Octopus Energy tariff is best for your electric car?
A short decision guide: answer four questions about your car, charger and home and you will know which Octopus tariff to look at first.
Tariff facts, checked 28 October 2026
| Intelligent Octopus Go | EV tariff with smart charging |
|---|---|
| Cheap rate | From 7.9p/kWh (Octopus's advertised smart charging rate) |
| Times | 23:30 to 05:30 for the whole home, plus up to 6 hours of scheduled car charging in any 24 hours |
| You need | A compatible car or charger, a smart meter sending half-hourly readings and the Octopus app |
| Octopus Go | EV tariff with a fixed night window |
| Cheap rate | 9.4p/kWh off-peak |
| Times | 00:30 to 05:30 every night |
| You need | Any EV and any charger, and a SMETS2 or Secure SMETS1 smart meter |
Quick answers
- If your car or home charger is compatible, Intelligent Octopus Go is the Octopus tariff most EV drivers should look at first.
- If nothing you own is compatible, Octopus Go works with every EV and every charger, including a three-pin cable.
- Solar and battery owners should compare Intelligent Octopus Go with Octopus Flux; Octopus itself says Intelligent Octopus Go usually wins when there is an EV in the mix.
- Agile Octopus can be cheapest of all, but only for households that watch prices and can move almost all their use away from the 4pm to 7pm peak.
Octopus Energy sells several tariffs that can cut the cost of running an electric car, and the right one depends far more on the kit you own than on how far you drive. Work through these four questions in order.
1. Is your car or charger compatible with Intelligent Octopus Go?
Intelligent Octopus Go is Octopus’s smart EV tariff. You plug in, tell the Octopus app how much charge you need and by when, and Octopus schedules the charge for you at its lowest rate. Your whole home also gets six cheap hours every night, from 23:30 to 05:30.
It needs either a compatible car (Octopus talks to the car directly) or a compatible smart charger. Octopus says more than 280 cars work, and its own chargers work with any EV. Check the compatibility rules here.
If the answer is yes, start with Intelligent Octopus Go. For most drivers it is the cheapest way to charge at home that Octopus offers.
2. If not, can you charge overnight between 00:30 and 05:30?
Octopus Go is the original EV tariff. It works with any electric car and any charger, and even with a three-pin cable. You get a cheap rate for the whole home for five hours every night, and you set the charging time yourself with your car’s or charger’s timer.
The off-peak rate is a little higher than Intelligent Octopus Go’s and the window is an hour shorter, but nothing has to be compatible.
3. Do you have solar panels, a home battery or a heat pump?
These change the sums:
- Solar and a battery: compare Intelligent Octopus Go with Octopus Flux. Octopus says Intelligent Octopus Go usually works out better when you also have an EV, because the battery can fill up overnight at the cheap rate too.
- Solar without a battery: keep your EV tariff and add an export tariff so you are paid for what you send back.
- A heat pump: read EV and heat pump: which Octopus tariff? before you choose between Intelligent Octopus Go and Cosy Octopus.
4. Are you prepared to watch prices every day?
Agile Octopus charges a different price every half hour, linked to the wholesale market. Overnight and on windy, sunny days it can be very cheap, sometimes below zero. In the late afternoon peak it can reach the tariff’s cap of 100p/kWh. It suits people with automation and the flexibility to avoid the peak almost completely. For most drivers a fixed-window EV tariff is simpler and more predictable.
The short version
| Your set-up | Look at first |
|---|---|
| Compatible car or charger | Intelligent Octopus Go |
| Any EV, any charger, nothing compatible | Octopus Go |
| Solar plus battery plus EV | Intelligent Octopus Go, then compare Flux |
| Heat pump plus EV | Intelligent Octopus Go, then compare Cosy |
| V2G-enabled BYD Dolphin with a Zaptec Pro | Add Power Pack |
| Low mileage, high daytime use you cannot move | Possibly no EV tariff: see is it worth it? |
Whichever you choose, you will join Octopus on a standard tariff first and move across once Octopus can read your smart meter. Our step-by-step switching guide explains the order.
How we test and where our numbers come from
Tariff times, rules and rates come from Octopus Energy's own tariff pages and its public price API on the date shown. Off-peak rates quoted are national; day rates and standing charges vary by region, so check your postcode. EV Compared earns a referral reward if you switch through our Octopus links; it does not change what we write. Last checked 28 October 2026. How we work out our own figures.
Frequently asked questions
Is Intelligent Octopus Go better than Octopus Go?
Usually, yes. It has a lower rate for car charging and six cheap hours a night for the home rather than five. The catch is that your car or charger must be on Octopus's compatibility list and you hand control of charging times to Octopus.
I have a heat pump and an EV. Which tariff should I choose?
Octopus says it usually makes more sense to choose Intelligent Octopus Go rather than Cosy Octopus if you have both, although it depends on how much you drive. Low-mileage drivers with a big heating load are the exception worth checking.
Can I be on two Octopus import tariffs at once?
No. A home has one import tariff. You can add an export tariff such as Outgoing Octopus alongside some import tariffs, and Power Pack sits on top of most of them.
Sources and further reading
- octopus.energyOctopus Energy: EV tariffsTwo EV tariffs, eligibility, heat pump and solar guidance; checked 28 October 2026
- octopus.energyOctopus Energy: Intelligent Octopus GoSmart charging from 7.9p/kWh, 23:30 to 05:30 window, £50 exit fee on the fix
EV Compared
The EV Compared editorial team tracks the UK electric vehicle market full time: new model launches, list prices, WLTP and real-world range, public charging tariffs and the tax rules that decide what an EV actually costs to run. Every guide is checked against manufacturer specifications and official GOV.UK figures, and updated whenever the numbers move.
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