Octopus Go: rates, times and who it suits

How Octopus Go works

Octopus Go has two rates. Between 00:30 and 05:30 you pay 9.5p/kWh for everything you use, car or not. At every other time you pay a regional day rate that averages 35.30p. Octopus launched it in 2018 and calls it the UK’s first EV tariff, and its EV page describes it as the tariff for cars that cannot use Intelligent Octopus Go.

Nothing controls your car for you. You set the car’s own timer, or your charger’s, to start after 00:30 and finish by 05:30. Octopus’s Go page says you do not need a home EV charger, so a car plugged into a socket with its timer set should work (confirm at sign-up). If you want automatic timing, a smart charger can start charging when the window opens.

One detail catches people out. Octopus says the window stays 00:30 to 05:30 after the clocks change, even though an in-home display may show the cheap period starting an hour later. Trust the bill, not the display.

Rates in October 2026

Octopus Go’s 9.5p sits level with British Gas EV Power, but it is 2.84p above EDF GoElectric and 1.9p above Intelligent Octopus Go, and its five-hour window is the shortest of the group.

The rest of the tariff:

• Day rate: 33.56p to 37.42p by region, average 35.30p.
• Standing charge: 42.29p to 66.74p a day, average 54.34p, the same as Intelligent Octopus Go.
• Contract: 12-month fixed, £50 exit fee.
• If VAT returns: if the 0% rate lapses on 1 April 2027 on the same pre-VAT price, 9.5p becomes 9.98p (our derivation).

An older variable Octopus Go (8.21p off-peak) is still in Octopus’s API with no end date. Octopus’s own pages say fixed only, so we do not recommend it as available.

What you need

• An electric car you charge at home. Octopus’s Go page says you do not need a charger, though its EV tariffs FAQ lists “an EV and home charger” as a requirement; confirm when you sign up.
• To be an Octopus customer. New customers join on a standard tariff, because Octopus cannot book a smart meter installation until you have switched.
• A SMETS2 smart meter, or a Secure SMETS1 meter, that Octopus can read every half hour. Connecting takes about 14 days.
• To accept the Octopus Go terms by email once Octopus is receiving readings.

Octopus’s Go page also says that if you have solar panels you can only pair Go with certain export tariffs, so check this before you switch.

What does it cost to charge?

At 0.301 kWh a mile, 9.5p is 2.86p a mile, or about £29 per 1,000 miles. A 9,400-mile year is about £269, against £745 at the 26.32p price cap. A 60 kWh battery filled from empty costs £5.70.

How much fits in the window depends on the charger. Five hours at 7.4kW is 37 kWh, about 123 miles. On a 3-pin socket at about 2.3kW, five hours gives roughly 11.5 kWh, about 38 miles, which is why slow charging wants a longer window.

Who it suits

Cars or chargers Octopus cannot control. If your car and charger are not on Intelligent Octopus Go’s list, Octopus Go is Octopus’s EV tariff for you.

Low-mileage or daytime-heavy homes. Octopus Go’s day rate is 1.4p lower than Intelligent Octopus Go’s in every region, with identical standing charges. For a home using 2,500 kWh a year, the two cost the same at about 6,100 miles a year if nothing moves to the night. Below that, Octopus Go is cheaper. If you shift 30% of house use into the cheap window, the crossover falls to about 1,800 miles. This is our arithmetic from Octopus’s regional rates. Above those mileages, Intelligent Octopus Go wins if your kit is compatible.

People who want control. There is no app scheduling, no six-hour cap and no flexibility-service lock-in. You can also share control of a home battery with another provider, which Intelligent Octopus Go does not allow.

Not ideal if you regularly need charge outside 00:30 to 05:30, or your household cannot move any use to the night. At EV-tariff day rates (35.30p on average here), a low-use daytime home can pay more overall than on the standard tariff. The break-even against the price cap is about 4,400 miles a year if none of the 2,500 kWh moves.

Octopus Go or Intelligent Octopus Go?

Intelligent Octopus Go is cheaper at night (7.6p against 9.5p), has a longer window and adds smart slots, but Octopus controls your charging and your kit must be compatible. Our Intelligent Octopus Go guide has the full comparison; the Octopus EV range covers Agile and the Power Pack. For other suppliers, see the full EV tariff comparison, and test your own mileage in the charging cost calculator.