The Short Answer
Don't pick on the night rate. Most EV tariffs charge more than the price cap during the day, and your whole house pays it, so a tariff with a cheap night and an expensive day can lose to one with a slightly dearer night. Ranked on what an average driver (7,100 miles) in a typical home would actually pay, the leaders are Good Energy's EV Charge Fix and Scottish Power's EV Optimise add-on, saving around £400 a year against the price cap. Octopus Go saves about £220. So Energy's So EV has one of the cheapest nights but a 41p day rate, and comes last.
Your answer depends on your mileage, how much of your house use you can shift to the night, and the day rate for your postcode. The calculator below ranks all 12 tariffs for your household.
Every EV Tariff, With the Day Rate Most Lists Leave Out
| Tariff | Cheap rate | Cheap hours | Typical day rate | Exit fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EDF Pod Point Plug & Power (needs a Pod Point charger) | 6.18p | 11pm to 6am | 31.99p* | £75* |
| EDF GoElectric | 6.66p | 11pm to 6am | 31.99p* | £75* |
| Good Energy EV Charge Fix | 7.22p* | Midnight to 5am | 28.28p* | £75 |
| So Energy So EV | 7.5p | Midnight to 5am | 41.02p* | £75 a fuel* |
| Intelligent Octopus Go (compatible car or charger) | 7.6p | 11:30pm to 5:30am | 37.7p* | £50 |
| Scottish Power EV Optimise (add-on, existing customers) | 8p | Any time, car only | Your normal rate | None* |
| E.ON Next Drive Smart | 8.1p | Midnight to 6am | 30.8p* | None* |
| Scottish Power EV Saver | 8.5p** | Midnight to 5am | 29.02p* | £50 a fuel* |
| Octopus Go 12M Fixed | 9.5p | 12:30am to 5:30am | 33.55p to 36.08p | £50 |
| British Gas EV Power | 9.5p | Midnight to 5am | 36.9p* | £100 a fuel* |
| E.ON Next Drive | 9.53p | Midnight to 6am | 31.99p* | None* |
| OVO Charge Anytime (add-on) | 13.33p | Any time, car only | Your normal rate | None* |
Cheap rates and hours read on each supplier's own site (and Octopus's pricing API) on 11 October 2026. Octopus Go day rates are from Octopus's API for the regions we sampled. * Day rates and exit fees marked with an asterisk are MoneySavingExpert's published averages (6 October 2026), because those suppliers only show day rates after a postcode lookup; Good Energy's cheap rate is also MSE's figure for the same reason. ** Scottish Power's own page shows 8.5p from midnight; MSE lists a newer version at 7.7p from 2am, so check your quote. Electricity carries no VAT from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027.
The Catch: Day Rates
EV tariffs pay for the cheap night by charging more in the day. We pulled Octopus Go's 12-month fixed rates from Octopus's own pricing API: the night rate is 9.5p everywhere, but the day rate ranged from 33.55p to 36.08p across the regions we sampled. The price cap is 26.32p. So every unit your house uses in the day costs about 7 to 10p more than it would on a standard tariff.
For a household using Ofgem's typical 2,500kWh a year, with 10% of it in the cheap window, that day-rate penalty is about £142 a year on Octopus Go at a 34.48p day rate. The car has to save more than that before the tariff pays. At 9.5p against 26.32p, each kWh you put in the car saves 16.82p, so you need about 840kWh of charging, or roughly 2,800 miles, to break even.
| Miles a year | Staying on the price cap | Octopus Go Fixed (34.48p day) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000 | £818 | £857 | £40 a year worse |
| 4,000 | £977 | £915 | £62 a year better |
| 7,100 (average car) | £1,224 | £1,004 | £220 a year better |
| 9,400 (average EV) | £1,408 | £1,070 | £338 a year better |
| 15,000 | £1,854 | £1,231 | £623 a year better |
House plus car electricity, unit costs only, for a household using 2,500kWh a year with 10% in the cheap window, at 3.3 miles per kWh. Standing charges vary by region and tariff and aren't included.
Your numbers will differ, mainly because your day rate depends on your region and the share of your household use you can move into the night. Put in yours, and the calculator ranks every tariff in the table above for your home:
Which EV Tariff Is Cheapest for You?
EV tariffs give you a cheap night rate but usually charge more than the price cap in the day, and the whole house pays that day rate. Put in your household and we'll rank every tariff by what you'd actually pay.
Ofgem's typical home: 2,500kWh
Fridge, standby, timed washing or dishwasher
Price cap average 26.32p
Real-world average 3.3
Every tariff, ranked for your household
| Tariff | Night | Day | Per year | vs your current rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stay on your current rate | 26.32p | 26.32p | £1,224 | - |
| 7.22p | 28.28p | £810 | £415 cheaper | |
| 8p | your rate | £830 | £394 cheaper | |
| 8.5p | 29.02p | £857 | £367 cheaper | |
| 6.18p | 31.99p | £868 | £356 cheaper | |
| 6.66p | 31.99p | £880 | £345 cheaper | |
| 8.1p | 30.8p | £888 | £337 cheaper | |
| 13.33p | your rate | £945 | £279 cheaper | |
| 9.53p | 31.99p | £949 | £276 cheaper | |
| 9.5p | 34.48p | £1,004 | £220 cheaper | |
| 7.6p | 37.7p | £1,031 | £194 cheaper | |
| 9.5p | 36.9p | £1,058 | £166 cheaper | |
| 7.5p | 41.02p | £1,103 | £121 cheaper |
Click a tariff to see its detail and put in the day rate from your own quote.
Default: Octopus pricing API, London (33.55p to 36.08p across the regions we sampled). Use the rate on your quote.
Octopus Go 12M Fixed: 9.5p, 12:30am to 5:30am. Any charger. Exit fee: £50.
Its day rate costs your household about £142 a year more than your current rate. The car's cheaper charging covers that once you drive more than about 2,800 miles a year.
Unit costs only. Standing charges vary by region and tariff, and some tariffs are only open to existing customers, so check both on your quote. Assumes all of the car's charging happens in the cheap window. Night rates and hours from each supplier's own site or the Octopus pricing API on 11 October 2026; where a supplier only shows day rates by postcode we use MoneySavingExpert's regional averages.
Which Tariff for Which Driver
On our default household (7,100 miles, 2,500kWh of other use, 10% of it at night, against the 26.32p cap), here's the order. Use the calculator for yours:
| Tariff | House and car, per year | Saving vs price cap | Starts to pay above |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good Energy EV Charge Fix* | £810 | £415 | Any mileage |
| Scottish Power EV Optimise (add-on) | £830 | £394 | Any mileage |
| Scottish Power EV Saver* | £857 | £367 | about 300 miles |
| EDF Pod Point Plug & Power* | £868 | £356 | about 1,300 miles |
| EDF GoElectric* | £880 | £345 | about 1,300 miles |
| E.ON Next Drive Smart* | £888 | £337 | about 1,000 miles |
| OVO Charge Anytime (add-on) | £945 | £279 | Any mileage |
| E.ON Next Drive* | £949 | £276 | about 1,700 miles |
| Octopus Go 12M Fixed | £1,004 | £220 | about 2,800 miles |
| Intelligent Octopus Go* | £1,031 | £194 | about 3,700 miles |
| British Gas EV Power* | £1,058 | £166 | about 3,800 miles |
| So Energy So EV* | £1,103 | £121 | about 5,000 miles |
| Staying on the price cap | £1,224 | - | - |
Unit costs only, all car charging in the cheap window. * Uses MoneySavingExpert's average day rate (and, for Good Energy, its night rate). Standing charges aren't included and vary by region and tariff.
- Lowest cost on our numbers: Good Energy's EV Charge Fix, because its day rate is close to the cap. Good Energy only shows rates by postcode, so get a quote and put your rates in the calculator.
- Existing Scottish Power or OVO customers: the add-ons (EV Optimise at 8p, Charge Anytime at 13.33p) discount only the car and leave the house alone, so there's no day-rate penalty to cover at all. Scottish Power's is the cheaper of the two by a distance.
- High mileage with a compatible car or charger: Intelligent Octopus Go's 7.6p and six hours of smart charging help most when the car does most of your electricity use; at average mileage its high day rate holds it back.
- Want the cheapest night with any charger: EDF GoElectric at 6.66p, with a seven-hour window, or Pod Point Plug & Power at 6.18p if you're buying a Pod Point charger anyway.
- Low mileage: an add-on, or no EV tariff at all. Two-rate tariffs need a few thousand miles a year before they pay.
- Solar and a battery: a night tariff lets the battery fill cheaply for the morning peak as well as the car. See our battery storage guide.
- Watch the clocks: check whether your cheap hours move when British Summer Time starts, so the car isn't charging on the day rate.
Before You Switch
- Get the day rate and standing charge for your postcode. They're what decide whether the tariff pays, and they vary by region.
- Check the exit fee. Octopus's fixed EV tariffs carry a £50 exit fee.
- Check compatibility. Intelligent Octopus Go needs a car or charger Octopus can control. Pod Point Plug & Power needs a Pod Point charger.
- You need a smart meter for any time-of-use tariff.
- Move what you can into the cheap window. Timed dishwashers, washing machines and hot water make a night tariff pay faster.
To see what charging costs against public chargers and petrol, use our EV charging cost calculator.
