Octopus Energy is halving the cost of on street charging for EV owners without a driveway, making it cheaper than topping up at home for many drivers, especially during daytime hours. 

It will cut the cost of plugging in down to around 25p per kWh during peak hours and as low as 22.5p per kWh at night. That compares to the current Ofgem energy price cap average of 24.67p per kWh, and Octopus’ own daytime rate of 34.3p per kWh on the Intelligent Go tariff. 

If charging a 77kWh Volkswagen ID.3 from 10-80% charge, it would be £5.01 cheaper to charge on the street during the day than to plug in at home while on Octopus’ Intelligent tariff, and cost around the same if on a standard variable rate. It works out at around half the cost of running a petrol Volkswagen Golf at around 17p per mile and £75 a tank.

To qualify for the discount, you’ll need to be a new Octopus Electric Vehicles leasing customer. The 50% discount is currently offered on 20,000 chargepoints from the biggest providers of on street sockets, Ubitricity and Connected Kerb. Octopus plans to roll out the offering to more locations and brands across the UK. The discount is applied when using Octopus’ Electroverse charging app. 

Gurjeet Grewal, CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles, said: “We’ve already helped thousands of drivers switch to electric but the landscape is changing fast, and more people without driveways are becoming EV-curious. With the increased prevalence of affordable kerbside charging and cars, now’s the perfect time to offer drivers a bundle designed for those who can’t charge at home." 

The offer comes on the back of Octopus reporting a 36% spike in EV leasing interest, as volatile fuel prices push more consumers towards electric cars.