Be prepared for a real electric shock. If you’ve got an EV which you charge at home and haven’t swapped to a special energy tariff, you’re likely to be wasting more than £500 per year.
This is because the energy suppliers are very keen to have electric car owners signing up. Not only will your consumption shoot up because of the charging, but you are likely to plug in at night when demand is low. This makes you a perfect customer, and as a result there are plenty of keen deals.
Sifting through the offers can be a bit of a minefield, so we’ve been crunching the numbers for you to compare some of the best tariffs for electric car users right now. The turmoil in the energy markets has meant that some companies have temporarily removed their special EV tariffs and others have increased their prices or insisted on fixed term contracts - we will update the prices when we hear about new deals.
We’ve had to make certain assumptions for the purposes of this feature. I based the figures on a typical example using a postcode in what energy companies classify as the 'Eastern' region – but the figures will vary based on your circumstances, car and even the charger. So always get a personal quote to see which works out best for you.
Energy tariffs – the figures
Just for clarity, we need to throw some numbers at you so you can see how we worked out our figures. Skip this next paragraph if you trust us and just want to get to the results.
According to Ofgem, the average power consumption for a three-bed house on a dual fuel supply (so using gas for heating) is 2,700kWh per year. If this customer bought a family size electric car such as a VW ID.3 with a real world efficiency rate of 3.8 miles per kWh, covering 8,500 miles every year and charging exclusively at home it would add an extra 2,236kWh to the total.
At the standard Ofgem price cap rate of 26.32p per kWh (between 1 October and 31 December 2026, including the 0% VAT rate), the electricity to keep the car running would add £588.52 a year or £49.04 per month to the energy bill. That’s still usefully cheaper than running a petrol car but shifting to a special tariff could see that fall to just £13 per month.
To keep things simple for our spreadsheet we assumed that all the car charging would be done at night in the off-peak period, which is easily possible for the average driver: five hours on a wall box supplying 7.1kW would be enough for 135 miles of driving on our sample car – more than enough to cover most daily journeys.
We also simplified things by saying all the other domestic power usage would be at the peak rate. If you can shift some of your other electricity consumption to overnight by using timers, the overall savings will easily exceed £500 per year. For example, a dishwasher cycle falls in cost from around 44p to 13p.
Why you need a certain car or charger to get the best EV energy deals
Energy companies really like to have flexibility around supply. When it is the middle of the night, the weather is mild and the wind is blowing there will be lots of surplus power sloshing around in the grid and they will be very happy if they can zap it into your electric car’s battery. When we’ve all arrived back from work and switched on the oven, TV and electric heater the companies would really rather not have to fire up another power station in order to charge electric cars too.
But there is an even more sophisticated solution which sees the supplier talk to your car or wallbox and start the charge when there is the lowest demand on the grid. You just tell the app how much power you need in the battery and when you want to drive away and the technology sorts it all out with no other input from you needed.
Doing this results in even cheaper rates – Octopus for example is 1.9p/kWh cheaper off peak for its Intelligent Go tariff versus its standard Go rate. But there is a catch – currently these intelligent or smart tariffs only work with certain cars and chargers. The list is growing all the time and does vary slightly by energy company, but currently it is around 280 models from Audi, BMW, Cupra, Ford, Mini, Porsche, Polestar, Nissan (but only the Ariya and latest Leaf) Renault, Seat, Skoda, Tesla, VW or Volvo. The chargers are Ohme, Indra MyEnergi Zappi, Andersen, Simpson & Partners, Wallbox, Hypervolt, NexBlu, VCHRGD, and Sync.
Remember the gas
Many homes in the UK will still be running gas for heating and hot water, and it will usually make sense to combine your supplies into a 'dual fuel' tariff to get the best deal. For simplicity we haven't looked at the gas prices in this round up, but if you do require gas then you may find that it tips the balance towards one supplier.
Based on our sums and prices in October 2026, these are currently the best home tariffs on offer to electric car owners – but please read the details to see if there is one which might suit your unique circumstances better.
12. So Energy Fixed
so.energy
Cost/year: £1,520.79
Peak: 42.88p
Off peak: 7.1p
Standing charge: 55.7p
Off peak hours: 5
Never heard of So Energy? I hadn’t either, but it’s backed by Ireland’s state-owned utility supplier so isn’t likely to disappear overnight.
For its first appearance in this chart it went straight in at number 2 with a really competitive offer. But it was short lived, and the offer was taken down amid the global strife and then reappeared – with much higher rates. The good news is that the company smelled the coffee and cut the prices from July - but not by enough to drag its ranking off the bottom of the chart. It then threw in the towel and ramped them up again....
That's not to say it doesn't have attractions. The off-peak rate of 7.1p after the VAT cut is one of the lowest of any company here and runs between the hours of 12am and 5am, for all your household power – not just the energy going through the charger.
The standing charge is not the highest at 55.7p per day, but the real stinger daytime price of 42.88p, which is the highest of any supplier we could find. That means the peak rate power would cost £432.29 more per year than on the OVO tariff.
Feed the prices into the spreadsheet and it means So looks very expensive. However, if you can minimise the daytime use as you have solar or battery storage and can shift almost everything to the five hour off peak slot, it could make some sense.
11. British Gas EV
Britishgas.co.uk
Cost/year: £1,418.06
Peak: 37.7p
Off peak: 9.5p
Standing charge: 51.6p
Off peak hours: 5
British Gas bounces up and down the rankings in this chart like a helium filled space hopper. This month the tariff is called EV Power Apr28 v1 and it has sneaked in price increases across the board, except for the standing charge which has dropped slightly. As a result it has found itself at the naughty end of this chart again, after previously being in the top three.
The off-peak times from 00:00 to 05:00 compared to Octopus’ 00.30 to 05.30 may suit some users, especially if you have to wait to turn on domestic devices rather than using a timer, as it will get you to bed earlier. It works with any EV and charger as it is time based rather than ‘intelligent’.
There is a way to get even cheaper energy though. If you have a Hive EV charger and Hive Power+, you get a 25% discount on the charging so you could be paying an equivalent of just 6.75p/kWh.
Annoyingly the company has added a £100 exit fee though - something which wasn't there on the previous tariff. Our other bit of advice is to keep checking the BG site as the prices are constantly changing.
10. Octopus Go
Octopus.energy
Cost/year: £1,375.18
Peak: 36.1p
Off peak: 9.5p
Standing charge: 51.7p
Off peak hours: 5
Electric car drivers get quite evangelical about Octopus Go, and that includes me. It’s no exaggeration to say it has saved me personally hundreds of pounds while I’ve been using it. But at the current rates it has fallen way down the charts to a shocking 10th place in the rankings.
So what’s happened? Rivals have caught up and the Octopus’ prices have swum upwards, with the rates offered to new customers – and those switching from other Octopus tariffs – now looking too expensive.
The peak rate of 36.1p is now one of the highest, costing £255.61 per year more than Scottish. The off-peak tariff looks steep too, providing power at 9.5p/kWh between 00:30 - 05:30 every night. It works with any car, charger and anything else you want to plug in overnight. But that is not great these days – only E.On charge more.
On the plus side, the standing charges are reasonable at 51p per day. If you are an existing Octopus customer you will usually be on a better rate than this, but it is expected to rise. New sign ups have to commit to being fixed at the higher rates or face an exit fee.
9. Intelligent Octopus Go (certain cars/chargers only)
Octopus.energy
Cost/year: £1,370.49
Peak: 37.48p
Off peak: 7.6p
Standing charge: 51.7p
Off peak hours: 6
This is a bit of a fall from grace for Octopus’ flagship tariff and left us a little shocked – it was in first place at the start of 2025, but rivals have overtaken it, and even the non-intelligent products are cheaper in our average use example. The company seems to squirm when this is the situation though so may realign things before too long.
Existing customers may well be charged less currently – but anyone new to the company or wanting to switch to Intelligent Go from another Octopus tariff will be forced to pay these higher prices and commit to a fixed term contract.
The peak prices now look high at 37.5p, which is now (oddly) a more than a penny higher than the non-intelligent Go tariff. The standing charge is the same though, at a still competitive at 52p per day. The 7.6p off peak though is beaten by several rivals.
But the Intelligent products are not open to everyone. If your car or charger are compatible you will be treated to off-peak prices for at least six hours, which will include the rest of your household usage, from 11.30pm to 5.30am. Key to it is an app which you set up to say how much battery percent you need, and when you want to depart in the car. Then the Octopus software works out when there is excess supply in the grid and automatically charges your car while you sleep.
Having six hours of cheap power could be crucial, if you can programme appliances, a storage battery or a second electric car to charge overnight.
8. Fuse Energy Smart EV
fuseenergy.com
Cost/year: £1,356.60
Peak: 29.6p
Off peak: 17.18p
Standing charge: 43.8p
Off peak hours: 5 or 7
It’s by no means easy to get a quote from Fuse for an EV tariff, and our first attempt meant we had to put up with some mild hounding from a salesman who wanted to sell us a charger install.
The good news is that Fuse's EV tariff has been reinstated after a break. The bad news? It's not that cheap. There are a few choices of product, with the cheapest shown here which locks you in for two years. The off-peak rate costs of 29.6p during the day and 17.2p per kWh for a seven-hour period from 1.30am to 8.30am. That's a long time to be on the cheaper rate and the day tariff is competitive too. It also has the second lowest standing charge in the chart. But if you need to charge your car an average amount (or more) then that off-peak rate blows Fuse's chances. It might work for some though.
7. Good Energy
Goodenergy.co.uk
Cost/year: £1,310.28
Peak: 34.7p
Off peak: 8p
Standing charge: 53.1p
Off peak hours: 5
Good Energy isn’t a household name, but most electric car drivers will have heard of its subsidiary Zapmap. It’s quite tricky to find the energy tariffs on the Good Energy website at all, as it is more geared to selling you heat pumps and solar panels. But dig deep enough and it will give you a quote.
You are offered five hours of off-peak power from midnight to 5am and it’s not just restricted to charging your car, meaning it is a good choice if you can't do smart charging. Reviews say the customer service is highly rated too.
The peak rate is reasonably competitive at 34.7p, and the standing charge is in the middle of the chart too. The off peak rate sits towards the top of competitors at 8p/kWh. But middle of the chart isn't going to win you many customers, so there is little incentive to switch here. There’s now a £75 exit fee if you want to leave them too.
6. E.On Next Fixed
Eonnext.com
Cost/year: £1,292.98
Peak: 31.1p
Off peak: 9.5p
Standing charge: 57.1p
Off peak hours: 7
The main attraction of E.On’s Next Fixed is a huge seven hours of the lowest-priced electricity, compared to the five hours offered by most rivals here. It’s a ‘dumb’ tariff so open to any car or charger and the off peak rate stretches from midnight to 7am. Those extra two hours would give 54 more miles of range every day in my example electric car.
That could be useful for drivers who clock up more miles than average and might need to take on more charge overnight. You’d also be able to run other energy sapping appliances for longer too – for example using an immersion to heat the water ready for the morning rush to the shower would be easy as the power is still cheap before 7am.
But a recent price cut the off-peak rate to 9.5p per kWh seems odd, especially as the peak cost is only middling at 31.1p/kWh. On the plus side the standing charge cost has fallen from a stiff 60p per day to 57.1p - but it's not enough to make the Fixed a fixture in our top five.
5. OVO Charge Anytime (certain cars/chargers only)
Ovoenergy.com
Cost/year: £1,240.70
Peak: 26.6p
Off peak: 26.6p
Standing charge: 51.8p
Off peak hours: N/A
OVO topped our previous chart, but it has had a radical rethink of the way it offers energy to electric car drivers – and we are not sure it is of real benefit to the consumer unless your circumstances are pretty specific.
Whereas its old package was a combination of low prices across the board, OVO is now offering subscription bundles with a set monthly fee, along with a conventional pay as you go tariff without an off peak rate.
Go for a subscription and the Standard package is £27.50 per month on top of a conventional tariff costs and includes 175kWh of charging, plus an annual £120 of public charging credit which can be used with several suppliers. That would buy around 12.5kWh extra per month from public points. It also includes accidental damage cover for your charger, which may not be needed as it’s likely to be covered by your home insurance.
There are other higher use packages too, but I concentrated on the Standard as it is best suited to the average user in my calculations.
However, using Standard wouldn’t give us enough to cover the miles so would need an extra 11.33kWh as a top up to cover our monthly journeys – that takes the annual total to £1,240.70. If you had occasion to make use the full £120 public charging voucher too that would take it back down to £1,120.70 – putting it in third place.
Ignoring the public charging and using the PAYG tariff means you would have the flexibility to use more or less than the 175kW without being penalised, and the peak rates are the cheapest by a fraction. But that lack of off peak rate hurts its competitiveness. The standing charge is reasonable though.
Bear in mind you’ll be required to have a compatible car and/or charger, and OVO no longer offers any specific EV tariffs for anyone without this connectivity. OVO also only offers the cheaper rate on the electricity which flows through the charger, and not on any other energy used in the home overnight.
Apologies for all the figures, but I can put it simply – you will need to be a pretty specific use case for OVO to best option.
4. E.On Next Smart (certain cars/chargers only)
Eonnext.com
Cost/year: £1,229.65
Peak: 31.1p
Off peak: 8.1p
Standing charge: 57.1p
Off peak hours: 6
Adding smart capability to E.On’s Next package makes it much more tempting, especially for heavy users who need to charge often. The off-peak rate has risen in the past few months to 8.1p/kWh – with is competitive but no longer the best. You get the same low rate for any other power you use from midnight to 6am.
But E.On has sneakily bumped up the daytime peak rate too, with a price of 31.1p per kWh (up from 27.7p in the middle of the year), although it is still lower than the company’s non-smart Next tariff. The hefty old 60p per day standing charge has been cut though, and it is now 57.1p. That's still the highest of any supplier here though, and hurts E.On's chances of a podium finish.
As it’s a smart tariff, you’ll need to plug your car in for as long as possible and the car will talk to the network to choose the greenest time to charge. Unlike rival suppliers though, E.On doesn’t make use of smart charger and instead relies on the software in compatible cars. Currently it works with most models from Audi, BMW, Cupra, Mini, Nissan, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Tesla and Volkswagen.
3. EDF GoElectric
Edfenergy.com
Cost/year: £1,219.35
Peak: 32.7p
Off peak: 6.7p
Standing charge: 51.4p
Off peak hours: 7
Hats off to EDF for actually cutting costs and passing the VAT saving onto customers. This tariff previously was our top choice, but it still will make a lot of sense for anyone who does a lot of miles, or if you take advantage of the incentives on offer.
GoElectric’s peak rate is now 32.7p per kWh, reneging on an earlier promise that the cost would never be higher than the Ofgem price cap, but still reasonable compared to other big brands. The off-peak charge though is the cheapest here at 6.67p/kWh, and as it is a ‘dumb’ tariff, it can be used for seven hours (from 11pm to 6am) to power anything else in your home.
If you do have a compatible car or charger, then you can opt in for EDF's Smart Charging, which means you get £5 credit on your monthly bill - amounting to £60 annually - as long as you regularly use the Smart Charging schedule.
The standing charges are now competitive following a 'realignment' at 51.4p per day. There's a £100 exit fee though and you are locked in for 18 months, but the company is currently offering a £50 credit when you sign up for an EV tariff.
EDF offers another couple of interesting options too. They will install a Pod Solo 3S EV charger and spread the cost across two-year fixed tariff with a higher standing charge. It’s a cheap way of getting a charger if you need one. Current or new Pod charger owners who paid up front can also access a special tariff rate of 6.49p/kWh across a seven hour period and also access cashback rewards for smart charging.
2. Scottish EV Saver
Scottishpower.co.uk
Cost/year: £1,090.31
Peak: 26.6p
Off peak: 8.5p
Standing charge: 49.8p
Off peak hours: 5
Scottish Power has a couple of interesting options for EV drivers including one which seems to be blinding deal – but both are difficult to find on the website and the customer service chap we spoke to had no idea how it worked either – which didn’t inspire much confidence.
The EV Saver is available as an add-on option to normal tariffs, so there are a few different choices including some which benefit a charity and fixed-price deals. Then the EV Saver is added once you are signed up, which gives a credit on your bill so you end up paying an off-peak rate of 8.5p/kWh for five hours from midnight to 5am. That’s enough for 138 miles of range in my sample car.
The daytime rate has been slashed the last few weeks from a nasty 35.8p per kWh to 26.6p - that's enough to see it rise nice places in the chart. The standing charge is a reasonable 49.8p per day - again, that's lower than last month. The prices are by no means clear on the website though, which left me feeling confused.
The EV Saver tariff works with any electric vehicle and any home charger, but it is nearly as competitive as the intelligent EV Optimise.
1. Scottish EV Optimise
Scottishpower.co.uk
Cost/year: £1,079.13
Peak: 26.6p
Off peak: 8.0p
Standing charge: 49.8p
Off peak hours: N/A
Scottish Power’s EV Optimise isn’t a tariff as such, and is described as an ‘add-on’ option for any of its other products. It can be bolted on to most of ScottishPower tariffs free of charge. As it’s an add-on, the off-peak rate and standing charge will stay the same as the existing tariff but you can get a low rate for EV charging.
As with the other ‘smart’ products it allows you to charge at the greenest times when there is surplus supply in the grid, with no time restrictions, for the equivalent of 8p per kWh.
Using a compatible car or charger, you set when you need your car to be charged by and how much power you need in the ScottishPower App, and the software zaps the car when it is best for the power flows.
We used the most competitive basic tariff we could find for the figures, which meant a peak rate of 26.6p/kWh – the second lowest here and only missing out by a fraction of a pence – and a standing charge of 49.8p, which only behind the cheapest from Fuse.
According to our sums this would mean an annual cost of £1,079. The only drawback is that the off peak rate would only apply to the power fed to the car and not to other items in the house, such as appliances, heaters and batteries.
Scottish also has an offer, with a rate of 5p/kWh, for customers purchasing an Easee charger. The smart charging rate applies for a year from the date of installation.
Verdict – which are the best electricity tariffs for electric cars?
First, the cheapest deal for you will depend on all sorts of variables so get a quote using your own figures – but hopefully this will give you an idea of where to start so you don’t spend a day tapping details into websites.
If you have a compatible car or a charger you are likely to get the best deals as they allow the supplier to manage the charging depending on the demand on the grid. That’s something to bear in mind if you haven’t yet bought your EV or chosen your charger.
Assuming your set up is compatible with these intelligent tariffs, Scottish Power looks the cheapest with its EV Optimise add on - but doesn’t have the benefit of supplying the cheaper rate power to your car and other appliances in your house. If you are able to shift your laundry, dishwasher and water heating to overnight using timers then the EV Saver or E.On’s Next Smart will make more sense.
If you want the back up of a big name and cheap charging for a full seven hours on all appliances in your house as well as the car, then EDF's GoElectric will be your top choice.
