The renewable energy pricing anomalies strike again. Not only does the long-suffering taxpayer shell out to windfarms operators to not produce electricity it appears they may be subsidising the smugmobile owners as well.
When the ‘renewable utility companies have more electricity available than they need to meet demand, what do they do? In the absence of some sort of storage medium, whether it is pumped hydro, a lithium-ion battery, or whatever, the excess electricity is unused.
In the UK last weekend, a combination of a bank holiday, reduced demand due to the coronavirus pandemic, and sunny skies left Octopus Energy, a UK utility that uses only renewable energy, with an oversupply of electricity. So it paid some lucky EV owners to charge their cars in order to soak up some of the excess electricity it had available. One Tesla Model 3 owner was paid £4.51 to charge up his car. He used enough electricity to drive more than 650 miles. If he had been driving a conventional car like a BMW 3 Series, his fuel cost to drive the same distance would have been more than $120,
Of course, not everyone could benefit. One had to be an Octopus Energy customer who was on their “Agile” pricing plan and, naturally, own a smugmobile which you charged with their Ohme smart charger. These devices automatically allow EV owners to charge only when demand prices are lowest. On May 23, prices were negative for more than 12 hours from early in the morning to the middle of the day. During those times, drivers were paid up to 11 pence per kWh to charge their cars. The fancy charger also works on projected use and predicted power prices to decide when and how much to charge the battery.
It would be unfortunate if you had to use your vehicle to earn a living and were not home during that period.
One customer says he took advantage of the negative prices to charge the battery in his Jaguar I-Pace. Then he invited his father, who lives around the corner and drives a Tesla, to come over and charge his car as well. Another electric car driver posted on Twitter: “I drive from Bath to Edinburgh… and Octopus PAY ME enough to buy 2 pints of cask ale and a bag of crisps.” Woo Hoo!
So, you splash out for a more expensive EV, you pay for the wiring and extra you need at home to have the smart fast charging and you save enough to buy 2 pints of ale and a bag of crisps.
Fantastic, where do I sign up?
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