Right Charge
Here at Rightcharge, our day-to-day aim is to help electric vehicle drivers choose the right home charge point, whilst also looking to save them money on their already reduced running costs through choosing the right energy tariff.
There’s a couple of facts that the general population are currently unaware of that will have a huge impact on both their pocket and carbon footprint as the switch to EV is made. Helping customers to understand these two facts builds trust between the automotive retailer and the customer.
These two facts are:
- Our electricity grid is 25% cleaner for a few hours per day
- Electricity prices are much cheaper for a few hours and charging during these times which saves the average driver over £150 per year on their energy bills; (a saving that will increase when the energy market returns to normality)
The great thing about these two things is that they occur at the same time. There are a few hours, roughly between midnight and 5am each night, when electricity is both significantly cleaner and cheaper. So, charging overnight is the key to drivers saving hundreds of pounds per year and reducing carbon emissions by 25%. Energy bill savings will only increase as the energy market returns to normality next year.
The causes for both are based on supply and demand.
Our electricity grid operates on an ‘on-demand’ basis. We don’t have much electricity storage in the UK relative to demand (compared to countries like Switzerland who can store large amounts with Pumped Hydro). Therefore, National Grid increase supply by turning on more Gas-fired Power Stations as appliances are switched on during the evening. These Gas Turbines are then wound down as demand drops overnight. This gives us a roughly 25% reduction in carbon emissions as more of our power comes from clean sources like Wind and Nuclear.
The supply-demand relationship also means that wholesale electricity prices fall overnight. Energy suppliers are able to package these into peak / off-peak tariffs (‘EV-friendly Tariffs’) with prices reduced by as much as 75% overnight – offering huge savings for homeowners who can shift big parts of their usage, namely EV drivers.
The 10-15 million UK drivers who switch to EV in the 2020’s will be able to benefit from scheduled charging (AKA Smart Charging). We’re looking forward to supporting existing partners, like Lookers, Leasing.com and SOGO, and as new partners come on board, by giving them access to our technology making it easy for drivers to get set-up to save cash and carbon.