Got Octopus EV coming through my job soon I'm told, have been running 1 family-wagon since Covid lockdown and WfH has persisted with company going full-remote but salary sacrifice EV scheme might make sense to get back into having 2 cars running, especially as its 'turn-key' no additional expense or upfront, or so im told.
Thinking of getting an EV
- Thread starter danlightbulb
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Soldato
We have octopus ev scheme at ours. Comes with a charger install and insurance included.
Tempted by one myself tbh. I wouldn't have usually considered it but the price seems reasonable considering.
Be aware of how it will screw your pension contributions too mind.
well depending on where you are tax bracket wise it can also 'help' keep you under whatever threshold, alongside bumping pension contributions... but yeah i'd imagine as its taken pre-tax it nerfs your overall 'take-home' and therefore the percentage salary contributions...
We've not yet had our company introduction with Octopus EV, i'd be interested to know what order the 'deductibles' are taken, obviously preference on pension first would be nice, but maybe there's a set order
Our company have been toying with the idea for the last 2 years, apparently the master-hire agreement is days away from being signed and then we'll get employee rollout, im just waiting for my company invite code so i can see what cars they have in the salary sacrifice scheme. I got a callback from one of their customer support folks as i'd filled something in mistakenly as a 'direct customer' and the guy said the cars and deals are entirely different so best to wait
We've not yet had our company introduction with Octopus EV, i'd be interested to know what order the 'deductibles' are taken, obviously preference on pension first would be nice, but maybe there's a set order
Our company have been toying with the idea for the last 2 years, apparently the master-hire agreement is days away from being signed and then we'll get employee rollout, im just waiting for my company invite code so i can see what cars they have in the salary sacrifice scheme. I got a callback from one of their customer support folks as i'd filled something in mistakenly as a 'direct customer' and the guy said the cars and deals are entirely different so best to wait
You'll have to speak to your own HR department as to whether it reduces your pensionable pay or not. Most of the time it doesn't but it absolutely does at some employers.
They are a bit late getting on the gravy train, its only got a few years left in reality, BiK rates are only heading in one direction (to be clear, it isn't down).
They are a bit late getting on the gravy train, its only got a few years left in reality, BiK rates are only heading in one direction (to be clear, it isn't down).
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Octopus supposed to be fitting my EV charger today. Had confirmation email earlier in the week. After 2pm now and no one has turned up yet, no call, no notified timeslot, nothing.
Yep was all confirmed via email. They asked me when I was available, I gave them several options, and they came back with today.
Pretty damn poor from Octopus, I would expect better from them. Not even a phone call to say it will be a no show, after spending over £1000 with them for this install.
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I would have to have one, and that's about the best price I could get?
I use a 3pin on a full EV.
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I paid mine off in fuel savings in about 5 months - totally worth it for the convenience.
Oh I see what you mean, I'm not sure a 3pin plug charger could sustain my 50 miles a day commute.
Soldato
Yeah gets tedious fast.
Ah yeah fair. Not sure how much juice I put into the Pug but it definitely isn't 50 miles.
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If you could average 4 miles per kWh, you’d need just over 12 kw of power. A 3 pin at full strength will do just over 2kw per hour so in theory you could add that charge in 6 hours, but the plug would be rather toasty pulling 12 amps constant.
Knocking it back to 8 amps or so will give you about 1.6 kw per hour, so you’d need about 8 hours to to recover the 50 miles each day.
Assuming you’ve changed to an EV tariff where you get about 5 hours cheap overnight, the 3 pin wouldn’t cut it.
I have a 78kwh pack on ny polestar; and the 32 amp charger will do 42% in the 5 hours of cheap rate overnight. This is more than enough to cover my daily commute and then some.
Assuming I remember to plug it in…
The charger I got for my PUG (some MasterPlug from Screwfix) stays at 10amp IIRC. It is an smart BG outdoor socket on its own 2.5mm T&E. Works a treat but I don't use the car enough to track how much it puts on over night in the 0030-0530 window.
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If it’s 10 amps constant then you’re putting in 2.4 kw per hour, so 12 kw in that window under ideal conditions with no losses etc.
Anytime I’ve used a 3 pin I generally turn it down to the minimum 6 amps in the car because I don’t know the state of the full house circuit, wiring and connections etc - takes about 3 days to fully charge from nothing
I'm part of the "Bosch washing machine" EV gang. I don't even know what size battery my car has. All I know is I plug it in every now and then and it drives my daughter to nursery/potters about. I hate my in law so did use his Ohme charger on override to max charge his Octopus account.If it’s 10 amps constant then you’re putting in 2.4 kw per hour, so 12 kw in that window under ideal conditions with no losses etc.
Anytime I’ve used a 3 pin I generally turn it down to the minimum 6 amps in the car because I don’t know the state of the full house circuit, wiring and connections etc - takes about 3 days to fully charge from nothing
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FYI charging fast or slow it's generally not recommended to leave the battery at 100% for a long time to prevent battery degradation. Not a problem for you if you will be changing the car on a lease - that's the next persons problem right! **** em etc 
For day to day keep below 80% unless it's going to be used straight away.
My sister and bro-in-law both have EVs and only charge using an outdoor 3 pin mains socket, and EV charging at services when on holiday. I would do the same but I don't have a drive and usually only charge using Tesla Superchargers for non-Teslas. I had my first charging issue last week (7 months) but may have been caused by me not plugging in correctly, the just was slow and then stopped. I just parked to the next one (all 6 chargers were free). I just got back from my weekly charge, had also had an issue this morning, but turned out to be user error, I left the 'engine' on and the flap wouldn't open
For day to day keep below 80% unless it's going to be used straight away.
My sister and bro-in-law both have EVs and only charge using an outdoor 3 pin mains socket, and EV charging at services when on holiday. I would do the same but I don't have a drive and usually only charge using Tesla Superchargers for non-Teslas. I had my first charging issue last week (7 months) but may have been caused by me not plugging in correctly, the just was slow and then stopped. I just parked to the next one (all 6 chargers were free). I just got back from my weekly charge, had also had an issue this morning, but turned out to be user error, I left the 'engine' on and the flap wouldn't open