Electric mobility solutions, EV reviews, Solar Battery Reviews gadget tests and MORE!
I work within the motor sector, buying and selling cars, however, these are just skills I draw on to make the channel interesting and informative this channel is BRAND neutral and I work with various PR departments of motor manufacturers, charge manufacturers, solar, battery and inverter companies I personally owned a wide range of electric cars including a Tesla Model 3 Renault Zoe 22kwh BMW i3 120ah Vauxhall Corsa
My channel was first dedicated to showing you everything Renault Zoe but as the channel grew I did more EV-related content. I try to be unique and give you a different format from what other car reviews or vlogs give you!
In the document scope, the intention/focus is clear; the requirements for fire safety: "PAS 63100:2024 specifies requirements for fire safety in the installation of small-scale electrical battery energy storage systems (BESS) in domestic dwellings using stationary secondary batteries as the medium for energy storage."
Octopus told me they can’t extend my 15p fix which is signed from April 2024. They said if there will be any changes to the rate that will be communicated
A very clear video for people. Buy for 7p and export for 15p, losses aside, Mind you they just announced that prices are expected to rise by 9% in October. But I do exactly as you say, and actually AVOID charging the EV on solar power. Anyway... you asked for the stats: Over 16kW array - Southern UK 60kWh Battery Export limit uprated to 7.5kW April Export - 0.61MWh May Export - 0.86MWh June Export - 0.86MWh July Export - 0.69MWh General monthly home consumption is typically 1.6-1.8MWh, so I am just buying the power back later for half the price and the battery does the heavy lifting at peak rate times when there is no solar.
The only thing is batteries only have a limited life span, so I wouldn't want my batteries being drained, constantly degrading my expensive batteries . I have heard on youtube that there is another battery coming to the market that will have a 30-year life span. This would be more suitable for being used for making money by exporting electricity , but how much will this battery cost is another matter.
The price of Lifepo4 batteries has come down a lot... <£100 per kWh Usable. You should be able to get over 4,000 cycles on those... that's over 10 years with a full daily charge/discharge. I don't think it's the batteries you need to worry about.
Batteries generally have a 6000 - 8000 cycle life span. Even after that they don’t just stop, the capacity will be less that’s all. 6000 - 8000 cycles equates to 16 to 22 yrs. in short, don’t worry about batteries!!
I cant be bothered worrying day in day out about what the prices are, worrying about is by battery set right, can i charge the car now or should I wait till tomorrow blah blah blah. So for me eon next drive v3 non intelligent, 6.9p for 7 hours charge my car charge my battery and just let the solar do its job in the day. Job done zero stress i dont think about it from one month to the next. Plus they cant shut my battery or solar down remotely believe me that is coming for all of you "intelligent tarriff" lot when wars/gas issues/brownouts start happening in the future. Jst my 2p but I've always been a keep it simple kinda guy.
Plot twist - what if the 2x free electricity slots we've had over the past few days are actually an experiment to see if it incentivises customers to not export solar, when it is not economic for Octopus to pay them 15p/kwh to do so?
@ 2:30 is that the game the system you where talking about the other month. @ 6:00 would keeping the rate at 15p have anything to do with it being 100% green provider. @ 8:00 I am legacy tariff so happy days 21p 12kw system, it's a sod as my old home is 4kw 80p, no need to export, deemed 1/2 @ 5p 11000Kwh at 2.5 = £275 Fit £2300, i'm lucky one.
In two minds about this. Being paid 15p to export is money for nothing when you are away on holiday, but if the sun is shining, consumption effectively costs 15p due to the opportunity cost of not exporting. So I'm debating whether to try and renew 15p export or wait and see and go over to Agile Export if they cut the fixed export rate. I'd be open to Agile Import too, but it's totally uncompetitive for EV charging vs Intelligent Go.
@@NicolasRaimo Thats only what the house doesnt use from the battery. At the moment i usually have a few kWh i could export end of the day but I think that will end come October/November.
@@NicolasRaimo Nick... you have to be careful calling the 15p export rate a "profit"... you've got costs to deduct from that 15p rate before you arrive at a profit... unless your panels/inverter were provided FOC of course. All installations are different, and it's not an easy calculation (as you have to predict the future) but for me, my PV system costs about 13-14p/kWh... so I'm fairly happy that I'm in profit, but not by much. If the export rate dropped to nearer 10p (hypothetically) then I'd almost certainly be in 'loss' territory.
Also if you get it wrong and the weather changes you will be charged 23p or so at the moment. I would think that you are also increasing the number of battery cycles/use which could reduce battery life depending on what you discharge ??
@@nigelbuckton6873 Nigel... battery life isn't really an issue. We're all still learning about the best way to look after LifePo4 batteries... but it's proven that using them regularly is actually better than not using them. In any case, I'd worry more about the inverter... that'll likely fail many years before the batteries start to degrade to an unusable level !
@@NicolasRaimo it’s an Octopus thing which offers free EV charging. I’ve been trying to get onto it for months but I’m not sure whether it is actually happening. I was previously on Octopus Powerloop so I have all the relevant equipment.
@@martincharnley6143 ahh you mean power ups that offer free charging to customers near octopus turbines? There’s a program at the moment called power hour offering free power for an hour that’s to all customers
No I’m on intelligent go I switched about a year ago, I was getting 4p per kw on go now getting 8p should I be getting 15p then, maybe I will contact Octopus
01:52 "Unlike other energy companies the cheap rate is for the whole house not just the car." Sorry m8 but there are other energy companies who do offer whole house cover during lower priced TOU periods.
If, with some companies, the cheap rate is for the car only and not the whole house - how do they know where the electricity is going? Surely they can only see that it's being used... by something ... car, batteries, washing machine, heat pump, tumble drier, hot tub, multiple showers...
@@dadjv1926 special deals like this and ovo drive anytime know what the charger used to car you can’t have the rate unless charger is connected and compatible
@@alanbrad3727 Yes. I am looking forward to going back to Octopus but getting a bit tied now of RU-vid plugging them relentlessly. If you want customer service, Octopus will do it. If you want competitive pricing, shop around. Mike.
@@alanbrad3727 7 hours WHOLE HOUSE, fixed for 12 months - but not tied into this Also ANY CHARGER will do for Eon Next Drive at 6.9p - even a 3 pin granny charger Saves a possible grand for Ohme/Zappi charger install annnddd, no need to share EV Charging data/time shift on app etc... Sorry, but if I'm allowing full EV charging control & data collection, allowing them (Octopus) to begin charging at the very cheapest times overnight, then I'd expect them to offer this for less than Eon's 6.9p Sure Eon daytime energy is more than Octopus, but most viewing this are using solar & maybe battery for house during peak times If Octopus lower their export rate, it will be an unwise move, as others are catching them up like Eon who are cheaper off peak (just at 6.9p) & offer more export guarantee 16.5p The export guarantee will eventually decrease like US/Australia already are rowing back on export rates BUT - at same time UK energy is expected to rise 7% to 10% starting October 1st (Ofcom will announce new price cap in about 10 days time for October 1st) So who knows ???
Good video Nick, Do like octopus in general but teying to get smev2 meters from octopus is a knightmare, given up chasing now as chased too many times for my liking and over 6 months of waiting is disappointing . I hope they read this
If you just cycled a battery and used non of its power for your self it’s £292 based on 10kwh so over 10 years £2920 of course your be using it to offset your peak rather than just power the grid but the use case is discharge that excess
The simple answer Lewis is No. The business case for battery storage is to get your "effective electricity rate" down as low as possible. For me, with batteries, my effective rate is about 8.5p which would otherwise be nearer to 26p. So that's a reduction of about 67%... I'll take that any day ! The cost of the inverter/batteries was about £3k giving me a payback period of <3 years. I do not export anything.
Meters are usually replaced every 10 years or so at the cost of the supplier. Then we had smart meters and the cost was added into the cost of our bills. So reduction in capital costs for the suppliers. Note in 10 years they’ll need replacing again and you can guess who’ll have to pay for them and it won’t be the suppliers. Another benefit is living in rip off Britain.
Ohme are dreadful for independent charger installers, they lock the online software with a login/password and literally refuse to give it to independent installers - I a week of arguments with them about it. Their customer service is diabolical as well, they’ve only just recently made their app user friendly but it’s still bad. If you have to temporarily disconnect your car during an intelligent charge it cancels the whole session. I’ve had large companies like ChargedEv put indoor only stuff outdoor (no IP rating) and fit a 3G dongle in an area with no 3G and claim they fitted a wifi dongle and it was a router issue.
Switching between drive and reverse for 3-point turns and parallel parking isn't just about speed (although it is), is also about having to take your eyes away from the road. That's especially an issue with tight parallel parking or when there are lots of pedestrians, e.g. dropping the kids at school. As for your suggestion that people would complain if all cars had buttons and Tesla invented stalks, people would complain just as much as now with Highland...cobblers.
There are Ev standard plugs you can buy,if you’re running a non standard EV 3 pin then you’re asking for trouble. I’m away to fit a masterplug outdoor socket tomorrow.
Is this assessment pre or post Highland edition Tesla? I just bought a Tesla M3 Perf, and it feels, planted, smooth, and its UK "road" handling is bang on compared to my old car (limited edition Skoda Octavia). I've not actually driven a polestar, never seen a dealer for them anywhere near me. One thing that is definitely an advantage in the Tesla though is the route planning, it can automatically plug in super charging stops, I don't know any other EV doing that.
I'm a complete noob with all this, I ride an electric bike no solar panels and a 20 year old boiler. But when i checked on Octopus Compare it was much cheaper for me to be on Agile and Tracker than Flexible for gas and electric. - But don't these tariffs just work best in the summer and hike right up in the winter?
Can be cheaper in winter also as it tends to be more windy it’s normally early hours for agile, if you have a compatible charger look at intelligent evnick.com/energy has a list of more details
I can't believe the legislation about the chargers having to be smart. All I want is a dumb, reliable 7kw charger to plug in and charge my car. I don't want to rely on an app that will be updated and break features, or remove features, or be delisted from the app store in X number of years meaning it's useless when you get a new phone, or worse useless once the company decides to brick your device because it's not new enough. I don't understand the reasoning behind not being able to get a charger that does just that, charges my car without all the app faff.
There's a couple of reasons and also some info you have wrong about smart chargers. So first lets separate smart from dumb. PEN fault, RCD, DC leakage are safety features that are not part of the smart requirements there features that MOST installs have included into the charger as wiring regs would require them to be fitted with a charger so makes sense for them to be part of the charger. Smart was added for the national grid and its to stop us needing to spend billions on national infrastructure and millions on local cables instead we have enough power on the gird to support all evs we just need to juggle them around a little smart allows this, it means that if someone with no care of smart deals just plugs in a time delay wil randomise that charge start and by default block 4-7pm unless manually overwritten. Regarding going bust there 2 points to this. Point 1 this control data of your charger is worth MILLIONS so likelihood your be sold to someone else to run that app and data long term anyway. Point 2 if they couldn't find a buyer the chargers are designed within the smart regs that they will Go dumb mode automatically
Its to protect it from Foreign powers hacking our systems, I do think we'd benefit from maybe a system where part of the smart stays 2g/radio for anything that could be hacked and then reads etc could use your local network and once a year they check these figures when signal comes in from the meter or they send a radio truck out like they do for water meters
Some phone networks have already turned off 3g networks and the last phone network to switch off 3g network at the end of this year, about November I think from what I remember.
Wow Nick, I am on average €500 for an EV install with the customer buying their preferred charger their selves. I did one that took 2/3 days once and cost 1500 install charge. However we do have to always supply a certificate for the full installation here if adding a circuit.
No steps, it drives out the rear gate which of course I open and leave open till its return this is WAY less effort than me cutting the grass and unique issue to me, drives around my wife's car, down the public pavement and onto the front lawn cuts that and returns home I then get a notification and shut the gate. I honestly can't get across how much I love this thing the time and effort it save me is huge but my lawn looks the best it EVER HAS
How dare you assume how much we should earn, how about I say to you should only make £100 profit on that used car, how dare you!! The fact you think a decent electrician would “squeeze into a DNO cabinet “ show’s how little you know about what we are allowed to do or “should do “ but this waste of space video is driving down the cost and therefor the quality of EVCP installs, take this video down.@jamieblatantsparky
Ok mate sparks are fitting chargers local firms now not national for £890… work that price backwards how else they doing it without charging what I said… I think sparks are massively undervalued and under chargers stop jumping on some other person agenda
Yes a heat pump can loose gas over time , and other issues such as capacitors or fans can fail , it’s the same typical problem ac cooling needs. That may varied on maintenance each year but usually thd first two years your ok unless it has a high frequency of defrost cycles. Be of the high humidity in U.K. risk may also be an issue over time, compared to gas depending on gas may mean a higher call out charges
Question : do you have to fill a tax form in due to the income you receive from selling electricity back , assuming it's more than the £1000 allowance .
So technically speaking saving £1000 is different from making £1000 under tax allowance rules. I generated 2326 kWh of solar paying me £277.19 however manipulating my battery I charged and discharged it more to get better return. Now I need to check the next part with my accountant as am assuming you could also deduct the cost of import from this which is £576 again as I charged my battery from grid this is a capital cost to make the export payment, you’d need a Massive array bigger than most houses to get anywhere near the £1000 capital allowance I also found this below online as: Your solar array is located on a domestic property you own, or nearby You don’t intend for your panels to produce significantly more solar power (usually interpreted as 20% more) than the amount of electricity you consume at home If your installation doesn’t match these requirements, you may still be exempt. You can class your SEG payments as trading and miscellaneous income, and provided your total income in this category doesn’t exceed £1,000, you won’t have to report it to HMRC.
Personally living in the U.K. I would never contemplate having them. The only way I would consider, would be if I have a massive barn with a south facing roof. Certainly wouldn’t want the ugly inefficient things all over my house.
I suspect IF you have moved down a band on your EPC... This is where the (potential) property value increase comes from? This is all a bit tongue in cheek as you actually need to sell up in order to actually make any financial (property based) gain. As more homes install solar (PV) will things normalise and will it simply be that houses without solar PV are priced below the market... So basically the same as Central Heating and Double glazing is these days. I think its great to max out solar (we have around 13kW, Powerwall, ASHP and EVs... So it totally makes sense from reducing your energy bills POV... But im not too convinced that installing it just to possibly add some additional, sometime in the future, property value increase is a reason to do it (imho).
Thats a great comment and a great point short term yes solar is adding value like you said and again like you said homes without it will under preform in Market
YES/NO/KINDA its a complex answer, the business rate is moving from 15p to just over half at 8p this was on a plan called "panel power" The writing was on the wall for this for a few months the drop in wholesale was one but the other was octopus announcing it wasn't accepting ANY more customers onto panel power the same isn't true for the consumer rate which is still open to new customers and still 15p... I suspect its a bit of robbing Peter to pay Paul.. By this I mean they make alot of money from controling your EV charging and this can pay for the export rate for small amounts your export most homes can't have HUGE systems unlike a business that oould easily have 30/40/50/1000 panels
Are you an electrician? One of the main costs of installing an ev charger is the training costs, qualification, insurance, etc of the installer. This is complete nonsense. No self employed electrician can run a business at 100 a half day. What about vat and profit. Spent 30 years as a finance director and restructuring companies. Dont know what you do for a living but probably work for someone else, never had to run a small business. Someone says you sell cars. Well I guarantee you that you are putting a lot more than 70 pounds. Nonsense
I 100% agree with you but that's the going rate for people fitting EV chargers currently, its why most EV chargers are chucked in and very little thought goes into the design process like hiding cables occurs, I rang 2 local firms and 2 national firms prices ranged and the average was the £900 figure used in the video some were less however most expensive local EV charger installer quoted £1200. This video stated if I were a spark I wouldn't be fitting EV chargers. The firms scaled for this do 2 a day and the staff outlay is £200 not once did I say this is a fair figure for a self-employed person. £200 a day by the way works out £52,000 a year wage.
@@NicolasRaimo your analysis is rubbish. Octopus obviously absorb a substantial amount of the labour cost as they want the electric contact. Any analysis by an "expert" should have reflected that. The Octopus model is something for the competition authority. Your "analysis" is just so bad bedt to do is just take it down and do it properly as it makes you look like you don't know what you are talking about.
@@brianoneill350 octopus wasn’t the cheapest… others undercut it who don’t sell you electric at all. This argument octopus sell you a charger cheap to benefit from electric is silly if that was true other companies wouldn’t be charging less and not benefit from any long term service
