Octopus EV / November 2022 / Energy Focus

OCTOPUS EV

OCTOPUS EV

Delivering the Whole Package for a Cleaner, Fairer Future

Octopus Electric Vehicles (OEV) is opening up a new world of pure electrification. Offering car, charger and energy, Octopus presents the whole EV package and everything needed to hit the road, with a cost-neutral Salary Sacrifice scheme applicable to companies of all shapes and sizes sealing the deal to make EV adoption a real no-brainer.

PRODUCTION: David Hill

INDUSTRY FOCUS: AUTOMOTIVE

Fiona Howarth, CEO

to more than 300,000 chargers across the globe via our Energy Universe card.

//For Octopus EV, helping customers transition to a greener and fairer world for future generations is crucialprimordial, in fact. Sister company Octopus Energy already supplies green energy to over 3.4 million UK homes and counting, with Octopus EV working tirelessly to do the same for the UK’s roads. “We couldn’t be good at what we do if we didn’t believe one thing,” the company insists. “We believe the eco-choice should be the easy choice, and while that sounds like a small thing, it’s not.”

Octopus Electric Vehicles reports that 30% of the UK’s carbon emissions comes from transport alone, and relays the rather terrifying news that air pollution is estimated to kill some 40,000 people every year. As the company points out, were this linked to, say, the water supply, the nation would rightly be in uproar. “But until recently, there hasn’t been a good alternative,” Octopus EV recognises, “and when not locked down, we’ve needed to get around - whether for work, to visit friends and family, or perhaps even get away for a holiday.

“Now, however, the car manufacturers have done something incredible, offering over 60 vehicles that

we can power with wind and sunshine. Tesla kick-started the revolution, doing for cars what Apple did for our phones, but this time with tech on wheels. Here at Octopus EV, we’re on a mission to help you discover them, and make it easy and affordable to make the switch.”

TAILORED TARIFFS

To achieve this, Octopus takes care of the whole package, assures CEO at Octopus Electric Vehicles, Fiona Howarth. “We source the car itself, an at-home charging point complete with a bespoke tariff for EV drivers, and rather than having our own public charging operator, we have integrated across over 450 different networks that give access

“Electric Universe simplifies public EV charging for drivers, helping accelerate the EV rollout by providing one card and app and its breadth of charge points is quickly expanding internationally,” Howarth unravels. At Octopus EV a range of over 65 fully maintained models all come complete with servicing and repairs to retain optimum condition, and can be ordered from the comfort of the sofa to be delivered free of charge. “In addition, we give customers the first 4000 miles free, and allow them to choose between a free home charger with Intelligent Octopus tariff credit, installed by an expert Octopus engineer, or for those without a driveway, exactly the same equivalent credit on the Electric Universe network.”

Intelligent Octopus is, quite simply, the smartest EV energy tariff on the road. It enables smart charging when it is cheapest and greenest for six hours every night at a superlatively low rate, saving up to 85% on fuel costs compared with petrol. In the UK, tariffs have arguably had more airtime in the last 12 months than over their lifetime to date combined, and as the world becomes greener, with electric vehicles proving to be the much-needed solution for zero emissions in the car industry, Octopus is well ahead of the rest.

“We have created affordable and

INDUSTRY FOCUS: AUTOMOTIVE

access to what we have come to call our ‘ultimate EV package’. We also sync the home chargers with Intelligent Octopus to charge EVs with the cheapest, greenest electrons available.”

SMART ENERGY

Vehicle to grid (V2G) technology, enabling energy stored in Electric

Vehicles to be fed back into the network to bolster supply at times of peak demand, has provided Octopus EV with a UK first for next generation energy grid management, Howarth explains.

“We’re looking to the future, where the worlds of electricity and cars come together, and we all have large batteries sitting outside our homes,” she explains.

CHARGE SMART, AT HOME, FOR LESS

“We’re excited to be pushing the boundaries of what EV charging can do,” states Wallbox, leading EV charging and energy management business.”

Redefining consumer relationships with the grid, world leading EV charging brand, Wallbox, is bringing industry-leading technology to the market so that everyone can be a part of the energy transition.

Already innovating for the EV network of the future, Wallbox supports efficient charging in over 110 markets globally and is compatible with the world’s leading automotive OEMs.

Currently, the company manufactures and installs a range of EV chargers for home, business, and public applications. Compact, connected, and controllable, Wallbox chargers are small but powerful.

In the future, Wallbox Head of Energy, Daniel Utges, expects these chargers to go beyond just fuelling vehicles, becoming sophisticated energy management devices to balance supply with demand.

“We are building technologies around Sirius, our energy management solution for home and business. It’s a brain that understands what is going on in your home or workplace.

Depending on the assets you have – batteries, electric cars and solar PV installations – it optimises your energy consumption,” he says.

This optimisation will include bidirectional charging, cost management, energy efficiency, and improved market access.

“EVs are batteries with wheels,” smiles Utges. “Our vision begins to look more real when we see hundreds of thousands of EV chargers around the world being able to charge and discharge, using our technology, at any point at any time.”

Wallbox created the EV charging standard to include features like PowerBoost and Eco-Smart. The former load balances the EV charger power with available power in the home and the other charges your car for free using available solar surpluses.

“With backing from Innovate UK, the UK’s national innovation agency, our experts are running a globally marketleading demonstration project for residential V2G called Powerloop, where our car batteries can be used to store green energy for when we most need it.”

The optimisation technology behind Powerloop takes signals

But it is bidirectional charging capability that Utges believes will truly democratise EV charging.

“Being able to charge the car but also discharge when you need it is a game changer. When you buy a car, standard batteries are 70-80kwh, and with this you can easily power your home for three or four days without any power from the grid. The result from our system would be charging the car when it is least expensive, or even free if you have PV solar surpluses, and then discharging when it is most expensive, allowing for big savings on the energy bill and making the energy transition available for everyone,” he says.

At Wallbox, where a culture of emissions reduction and net-zero is embedded above everything else, innovation is rife. “If you compare Quasar to the premium price against an inverter as well as a stationary battery with 7-10 kWh, Quasar is by far, a lot more cost effective giving you access to six times more battery from your car. We are proud of the work that we are doing and the adoption we are getting in the market. We are delivering a good product today and we are also investing a lot in the delivery of a great product for tomorrow,” says Utges.

Even the smallest changes and slightest improvements can have a marked difference in the energy transition. With Wallbox, your gateway to the new grid, you can take advantage of best-in-class tech, while reducing emissions; all while saving money.

Find out more at www.wallbox.com/shop

www.wallbox.com

from the market, assessing when the grid needs energy from the vehicle and when it can use the battery to store energy. It then tells the two-way charger when to charge and discharge to the grid.

“Octopus Powerloop reinvents home energy,” Howarth beams, “allowing electric cars store green energy in the middle of the night and give it back to the grid at peak times to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. We started running this project more than four years ago, and now we have over 100 Nissan Leafs with bi-directional chargers, charging

and discharging back to the grid.

“These are the first cars to operate in the National Grid’s balancing mechanism, which is a massive milestone in creating a smart energy system that matches up renewable energy with the batteries on our driveways for storage, and being able to aggregate it and offer it back to the grid when it is needed most while being compensated for it as well.”

The EV market is set to explode with growth, with 230 million EVs forecast to be on the roads globally by 2030. The UK currently has around 465,000 EVs, with the government setting forth

intentions for a tenfold increase in charge points by 2030. When it comes to the future of Octopus EV, Howarth delivers an unequivocal vision with equal parts conviction and excitement.

“We want to help tens, even hundreds of thousands of people to make that switch to EV, and continue to make it as hassle-free, beneficial and enjoyable to do it. These are two things we at Octopus ultimately want to bring together - the ease of adoption, while being the best energy supplier for EV drivers. We are well on the road to greater electrification of our society, and moving full-steam ahead to help accelerate the transition to a cheaper, greener energy future.”

// WE ARE MOVING FULL-STEAM AHEAD TO HELP ACCELERATE THE TRANSITION TO A CHEAPER, GREENER ENERGY FUTURE //

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