EV Charging Tariff Rates 2026: The Off-Peak Rate Table That Cuts Home Charging by £300–£600 a Year

Switching your home from the standard electricity rate to a dedicated EV off-peak tariff is the single biggest lever on what it costs to charge an electric car — bigger than the charger you buy, bigger than the car you drive. In mid-2026 the standard unit rate under the Ofgem price cap sits at about 25p per kilowatt-hour (24.67p, Apr–Jun 2026; ~26p announced for Jul–Sep), while the best home EV tariffs charge roughly 7p to 9p per kilowatt-hour for power drawn overnight, clustering near 8p [1][2]. These rates move frequently, so treat every figure here as a mid-2026 snapshot. For a typical driver that gap is worth somewhere between £300 and £600 a year, and for a high-mileage one a good deal more (our calculation). This article is the 2026 rate table and the rules for choosing.

One scope point first, because it trips people up. This is about home electricity tariffs — the rate your supplier sells you to charge the car at your own property overnight. It is not about public charging. Rapid and ultra-rapid chargers on the public network are a separate market that averages around 79p per kilowatt-hour for PAYG in mid-2026 (with standard 3–49kW units nearer 54p), several times the home rate, and nothing here applies to them [15]. That public side is the counterpart to this guide: if you need to price the networks instead of your home supply, our public EV charging networks compared hub covers cost by network across the US and Europe, with dedicated UK and EU and US deep dives. The whole value of an EV tariff rests on the assumption that you can plug in at home and pull power while the country is asleep.

How an EV off-peak tariff actually works

A standard single-rate tariff charges the same price for every unit of electricity, whenever you use it. An EV tariff splits the day into at least two prices: a very cheap window overnight, when national demand is low and the grid has spare capacity, and a normal-to-slightly-higher rate for the rest of the day. The supplier can afford to sell night-time power cheaply because it is cheaper for them to buy, and they want to nudge EV charging into those hours to flatten demand. You hold up your end by doing your heavy electricity use — above all, charging the car — inside the cheap window.

There are two families of EV tariff, and the difference matters when you choose. Window-based tariffs give you a fixed block of cheap hours — say midnight to 5am — and leave it to you to make sure the car charges then, either by scheduling in the car's app or setting a timer on the charger. Octopus Go, EDF GoElectric Overnight and British Gas Electric Driver work this way [3][5][7]. Smart-controlled tariffs go further: the supplier's app talks directly to your car or charger and decides when to pull power, often spreading it across the cheapest half-hours of the night and sometimes charging at the off-peak rate even outside the headline window. Intelligent Octopus Go and OVO Charge Anytime are the leading examples, and both require a car or charger from their compatibility list [2][4].

The trade-off is convenience versus control. Smart-controlled tariffs are effortless — plug in, walk away, wake up charged at the cheap rate — but only if your hardware is supported. Window-based tariffs work with any car and any smart meter, but you have to remember to schedule, and a forgotten charge at the day rate wipes out a chunk of the saving.

There is a third, quieter benefit to the smart-controlled approach. Because the supplier is choosing which half-hours to charge in, it can dodge the most expensive moments on the wholesale market and pass that through as a flat low rate, and it can spread the load to protect local grid capacity. That is why suppliers can afford to offer the smart-controlled tariffs at the same or lower rate than the fixed-window ones despite giving you a longer effective cheap period — they get something valuable in return, namely the right to schedule your charge. For the driver, the upshot is simple: you trade a little control over exactly when the car charges for a lower price and zero effort. Most people who try it never go back to setting timers by hand.

The 2026 UK EV tariff rate table

The table below lines up the main UK home EV tariffs at their mid-2026 rates, with the two numbers that decide everything — the off-peak rate and the length of the cheap window — alongside the requirements and the catch worth knowing for each. Read it as a snapshot: energy tariffs change several times a year, so confirm the live figure on the supplier's own page before you switch.

Tariff	Off-peak p/kWh	Off-peak window	Peak / standard p/kWh	Requirements	Notes
Intelligent Octopus Go	~8p	23:30–05:30 (+ smart slots)	~25–27p	Smart meter + compatible car or charger	App controls charging; cheap rate can extend beyond window
Octopus Go	~8.5p	00:30–05:30 (5 hrs)	~25–27p	Smart meter	No compatibility check; you schedule the car
OVO Charge Anytime	~8p	Any time, smart-controlled	~25–27p	Smart meter + compatible car/charger + OVO Drive app	Charges car at off-peak rate whenever plugged in
EDF GoElectric Overnight	~6.99p	23:00–06:00 (7 hrs)	~25–27p	Smart meter	Cheapest advertised simple off-peak; flat overnight window
E.ON Next Drive	~8p	00:00–07:00 (7 hrs)	~25–27p	Smart meter	One of the longest cheap windows
British Gas Electric Driver	~8.95p	00:00–05:00 (5 hrs)	~25–27p	Smart meter	Off-peak applies to whole home, not just the car
Scottish Power EV	~8p	Overnight (typically 00:00–05:00)	~25–27p	Smart meter + ScottishPower EV app/charger	App/charger conditions apply

A few patterns jump out. The headline rates cluster tightly — most sit around 8p, with EDF GoElectric the cheapest advertised simple off-peak at 6.99p and a couple of window tariffs near 9p — so the off-peak number alone rarely decides the winner. What separates the tariffs is the window length and the compatibility requirement. E.ON Next Drive's seven-hour window is one of the longest, which matters if you have a big battery or want slack to run the dishwasher and washing machine off-peak too [6]. The smart-controlled pair, Intelligent Octopus Go and OVO Charge Anytime, can deliver the cheap rate beyond a fixed window because the supplier is managing the charge directly — but only if your car or charger is on their supported list [2][4].

The peak rate matters more than buyers expect. On almost every EV tariff the daytime rate is around 25p to 27p per kilowatt-hour — at or slightly above the standard cap rate — because the cheap night is paid for by a normal-or-dearer day [2]. That is the core bargain: you are not getting cheaper electricity overall, you are getting very cheap night power in exchange for ordinary day power. It only pays off if a large share of your usage moves to the night.

It is also worth understanding why these rates exist at all, because it tells you how durable they are. Overnight, national electricity demand collapses while a baseload of nuclear and wind generation keeps running, so wholesale prices fall and the grid has spare capacity it would rather see used than wasted. EV charging is close to the ideal flexible load: it is large, it does not care exactly when it happens as long as the car is full by morning, and it can be switched on in the small hours when nothing else wants the power. Suppliers and the grid operator both have a strong interest in moving it there, which is why the cheap-night model has held up even as the overall price cap has risen. As more EVs come onto the system and more suppliers compete for those flexible kilowatt-hours, the structure of these tariffs — cheap night, ordinary day — is likely to persist even if the exact pence figures keep moving.

What you need: smart meter, and maybe a compatible car or charger

Every EV tariff on the market requires a smart meter, because the supplier has to bill different rates at different times of day, which only a half-hourly smart meter can record. If you do not have one, getting one fitted is free and usually the gating step before you can switch.

Beyond that, requirements split by tariff family. Window-based tariffs — Octopus Go, EDF GoElectric Overnight, British Gas Electric Driver — ask for nothing more than the smart meter; you control the timing yourself [3][5][7]. Smart-controlled tariffs need compatible hardware. Intelligent Octopus Go controls the charging session through your car or a supported smart charger, so it only works if your vehicle or charger appears on Octopus's compatibility checker [2]. OVO Charge Anytime works the same way, requiring a supported car or charger and the OVO Drive app to manage sessions [4]. Scottish Power's EV plan likewise leans on its own app or charger conditions for the lowest rate [8].

The practical advice: before you fall for a headline rate, run your specific car (and charger, if you have a smart one) through the supplier's compatibility checker. An 8p smart-controlled tariff you cannot actually use is worse than an 8.5p window tariff you can.

Standing charges, exit fees and the pitfalls

The unit rate is not the whole bill. Two other terms can quietly erode the saving, and one behavioural trap catches a lot of new EV-tariff users.

Standing charges. Every tariff carries a daily standing charge — a fixed fee you pay regardless of usage, covering network and metering costs. On EV tariffs this is broadly in line with the price cap, often somewhere around 50p to 60p a day per fuel, though it varies by supplier and region [1]. For a low-mileage driver who only charges occasionally, a high standing charge can swallow much of the benefit of a low unit rate, which is why the cheapest-headline tariff is not always the cheapest in practice.

Exit fees. Fixed-term EV tariffs can charge an exit fee — commonly around £75 per fuel — if you leave before the term ends [5]. Variable tariffs like Intelligent Octopus Go typically have none, giving you freedom to move as the market shifts [2]. Given how fast EV rates change, the freedom to switch is worth real money; weigh a fixed tariff's rate against the flexibility you give up.

The peak-hours pitfall. This is the one that surprises people. Because the day rate on an EV tariff is around three times the night rate, running other heavy appliances during the day costs more than it would on a flat tariff [2]. Tumble dryers, dishwashers, immersion heaters and electric showers all draw a lot of power, and on an EV tariff they are most expensive in the daytime. Drivers who switch for the cheap car charging but keep running the house on day power can end up barely ahead, or even behind. The move is to shift as much heavy usage as you can — laundry, dishwasher, heating water — into the same cheap overnight window the car uses. Treat the night window as your home's discount hour, not just the car's.

How much you actually save

The saving is just the price gap multiplied by how much you charge. Put concrete numbers on it. A driver covering about 12,000 miles a year in an EV using roughly 30 kilowatt-hours per 100 miles needs around 3,600 kilowatt-hours of charging annually (our calculation). At the standard ~25p cap rate (Apr–Jun 2026) that costs about £888 a year; at a ~8p off-peak rate it costs about £288 — a difference of roughly £600 on the car's energy alone [1][2].

In the real world the headline number lands a bit lower, around £300 to £600, because the rest of your home's electricity does not all move to the night rate, and standing charges and the odd day-rate top-up shave the edge off (our calculation). But the direction is unmistakable: a dedicated EV tariff is the highest-return change most home chargers can make, and it costs nothing but a switch.

Use the calculator to put your own mileage, consumption and rate into the sum rather than relying on the averages above.

Break-even: when an EV tariff is worth it

An EV tariff is not automatically the best plan for everyone. Because it pairs a very cheap night with a normal-or-dearer day, you need to be moving enough usage into the night to come out ahead. The lever is annual mileage. Below roughly 4,000 miles a year of EV driving, a low-mileage household may do better on a flat single-rate tariff, because the modest charging saving does not outweigh paying the day rate on the rest of the home's electricity (our calculation, per [9]). Above that, the more you drive, the more decisively the EV tariff wins.

Two other factors tilt the maths. If you can shift laundry, dishwashing and water heating into the cheap window, the break-even mileage drops, because more of your total usage gets the night rate. And if you have solar panels or a home battery, the calculation changes again — a battery can be charged at the cheap night rate and discharged through the expensive day, effectively buying all your power at the off-peak price. The headline rule still holds: the more electricity you can pull at night, the bigger the case for an EV tariff.

A short note on the US: time-of-use EV plans

The United States does not have the same crop of named EV tariffs the UK does, but most utilities offer time-of-use (TOU) plans built for EV owners that work on the same principle: cheap overnight power, expensive afternoon and early-evening power. The detail varies by utility and is far more region-specific than in Britain.

In California, PG&E's EV2-A plan splits the day into peak (typically 4–9pm), partial-peak and off-peak, with the cheapest overnight rate aimed squarely at EV charging [12]. Southern California Edison's TOU-D-PRIME is its dedicated plan for households with an EV, again with a low overnight super-off-peak rate and a costly late-afternoon peak [13]. In New York, ConEd's time-of-use rate offers a lower overnight price for EV charging against a higher daytime rate [14]. The universal rule across all of them mirrors the UK: get the car (and as much of the house as you can) onto the overnight window, and keep heavy loads off the late-afternoon peak. Exact rates change with regulatory filings, so confirm the current schedule on the utility's own page before enrolling.

How to pick your tariff in five steps

Pulling the threads together, here is the decision in order. First, check you have a smart meter — if not, arrange a free install, because nothing else can happen without it. Second, run your car and charger through the compatibility checkers for the smart-controlled tariffs (Intelligent Octopus Go, OVO Charge Anytime); if your hardware is supported, these are usually the easiest and among the cheapest, and the charging just happens [2][4]. Third, if your hardware is not supported, pick a window-based tariff with a long enough cheap block for your nightly charge — E.ON Next Drive's seven hours gives the most slack [6]. Fourth, compare the whole bill, not just the unit rate: factor in the standing charge and any exit fee, especially if your mileage is low. Fifth, plan to move your other heavy usage into the night window, because that is what turns a modest car-charging saving into a meaningful cut to the whole bill.

Above all, treat the rate table as a snapshot. EV tariffs are among the fastest-changing products in the energy market — suppliers adjust rates, launch new tariffs and close old ones several times a year. The names and numbers here are accurate for mid-2026 to the best of our reading, but the live supplier page is always the final word. Switch with the current rate in front of you, and re-check it once a year, because the cheapest tariff today may not be the cheapest next spring.

Common questions

What is the cheapest EV charging tariff in the UK in 2026? In mid-2026 most EV off-peak rates cluster around 8p per kWh, while the cheapest advertised simple off-peak rate is EDF GoElectric at 6.99p per kWh (11pm–6am) [5]. Smart-controlled tariffs such as Intelligent Octopus Go and OVO Charge Anytime, plus E.ON Next Drive and Scottish Power EV, sit near ~8p [6][7][8]. Rates move frequently and vary by region, so the cheapest name can change within months — always confirm the live rate before switching. The "cheapest" tariff for you also depends on the window length and whether your car or charger is compatible.

How much can I save by switching to an EV tariff? For a typical driver covering about 12,000 miles a year, charging at home shifts from roughly £888 on the standard ~25p cap rate (Apr–Jun 2026) to around £288 on a ~8p off-peak rate — about £600 a year on the car's energy alone (our calculation, per Ofgem [1] and supplier rates [2]). Real-world savings land in the £300–£600 range once you account for the rest of your home's electricity staying at the day rate. The more you drive, the bigger the gap.

Do I need a special smart charger or compatible car for an EV tariff? It depends on the tariff. Window-based tariffs like Octopus Go, EDF GoElectric and British Gas Electric Driver only need a smart meter — you set the car or charger to draw power during the cheap hours [3][5][7]. Smart-controlled tariffs like Intelligent Octopus Go and OVO Charge Anytime actively manage the car's charging and require a compatible vehicle or charger from their supported list [2][4]. Check the supplier's compatibility checker before signing up.

What happens if I use other appliances during peak hours on an EV tariff? You pay the peak rate for them, which on most EV tariffs is around 25–27p per kWh — roughly three times the off-peak rate [2]. The whole point of these tariffs is a very cheap night window and a normal-to-slightly-higher day rate, so running a tumble dryer, dishwasher or immersion heater during the day costs more than on a flat tariff. The fix is to shift heavy loads into the cheap window too.

Are there exit fees or standing charges on EV tariffs? Most EV tariffs carry the usual daily standing charge (broadly in line with the price cap, often around 50–60p a day) on top of the unit rates, and fixed-term versions can have exit fees of around £75 per fuel if you leave early [4][5]. Variable EV tariffs like Intelligent Octopus Go typically have no exit fee. Always check the tariff's terms — a low unit rate paired with a high standing charge can erase the saving for low-mileage drivers.

Is this about home charging or public charging? Home charging only. This article is about the electricity tariff you buy for your own property to charge an EV overnight — the single biggest lever on home charging cost. Public network rates (rapid and ultra-rapid chargers) are a separate, much more expensive market, averaging ~79p per kWh for rapid/ultra-rapid PAYG in mid-2026, and are not covered here.