Octopus Go: the overnight EV tariff

One cheap overnight block, one day rate · Electricity

Octopus Go gives a single very cheap rate for a fixed overnight block and one higher rate for the rest of the day. It is built for electric-vehicle owners who can charge on a timer.

How Go works

Go splits the day in two. There is a cheap window in the small hours — typically a few hours starting around 23:30 — and a standard day rate for everything else. Both rates are fixed until Octopus changes them, so unlike Agile you always know what tonight costs.

The trade-off is the day rate, which is higher than a flat tariff's single rate. Go only pays if enough of your consumption moves into the cheap block. For a household charging an EV every night that is easy; for one that is not, it is usually a loss.

Go versus Intelligent Go

Intelligent Octopus Go gives a longer cheap window and lets Octopus schedule the charge itself through a compatible car or charger. Plain Go leaves the timing to you and works with any car, any charger, and no integration at all.

If your charger or car is on the supported list, Intelligent is normally the better deal. Go is the fallback when it is not — and the simpler option if you would rather nothing outside your house decided when your car charges.

Does Go suit a household with no EV?

Rarely. A storage heater or hot-water cylinder on a timer can shift enough load to make it work, and a home battery certainly can. But a typical household without either moves only a dishwasher and a washing machine overnight, which is not enough to pay for the higher day rate.

Before switching, price your own readings on the compare page rather than the headline rate. The overnight rate is the advert; the day rate is the bill.

Common questions

Other Octopus tariffs

• Agile Octopus
• Intelligent Octopus Go
• Cosy Octopus
• Octopus Flux
• Snug Octopus
• Flexible Octopus
• Octopus Fixed
• Outgoing Octopus
• Octopus gas
• Economy 7