This morning a new section was visible on the “Smart Tariffs” section of Octopus Energy’s web site. The new tariff is introduced by Constantine the friendly octopus as follows:

Octopus Power Pack: the UK’s first Vehicle-to-Grid tariff

Get free EV charging with our groundbreaking vehicle-to-grid (V2G) tariff

Add Octopus Power Pack to your regular tariff. We’ll set up your V2G charger to automatically manage your charging and discharging in the greenest way possible, so you can fill up for free.

A typical V2G driver could save £880 per year compared to Flexible Octopus, and £180 compared to Intelligent Octopus Go.

Power Pack represents the latest stage in our V2G rollout, following our wildly successful Powerloop V2G trial. It’s currently a beta tariff.

I cannot help but wonder if Constantine the intelligent octopus has been peeking at our decade old “artistic impression” of V2G technology in the domestic environment? See the banner above.

Constantine continues:

How Octopus Power Pack works:

Plug your car and tell us how much charge you need. We’ll automatically schedule your car to fill up when energy is greenest, and then export back to power your neighbourhood when the grid needs help.

Power Pack is an add-on tariff that sits alongside your usual tariff. You’ll continue paying your great rate for your home energy use, but your EV charging be free. It works with most tariffs, but not Tracker, Agile (import or export), or our Intelligent Octopus tariffs.

On top of your free miles from Octopus Power Pack, if you already export to the grid via home solar panels or batteries, you’ll get paid for that power at your usual rate.

Then of course there’s the “small print”:

To join, you’ll need:

• A compatible charger: a Wallbox Quasar 1 V2G charger
• A compatible EV car: (check our list of compatible vehicles)
• A smart electricity meter we can connect to
• Permission to export energy to your local distribution network (aka a G99 certificate): contact the DNO (distribution network operator) for your area if you need one.
• A schedule that fits: You’ll need to be able to plug in for roughly 12 hours a day every couple of days, and charge less than 333kWh per month (equivalent to 1,084 miles of driving). We’re not fussed if you occasionally miss these targets, but if it’s a regular occurrence, you’ll need to hop off Power Pack.

Here at V2G UK we’re already an Octopus Energy customer, but we fall at the very first hurdle:

Lisa the LEAF’s dearly beloved bi-directional wallbox wasn’t manufactured by Wallbox.

It seems interoperability in the nascent Great British smart grid still has some way to go!