First British energy tariff for electric car owners launched

npower has launched what it claims is Britain's first energy tariff, designed to support the uptake of electric vehicles (EV) by offering owners cheaper charging rates.


The ‘juice-e’ is a certified green energy tariff will provide electric car owners with off-peak electricity charges when charging their EV overnight and will be available across Britain to anyone who has a charging point at home.

In addition, for every unit of electricity used by a juice-e customer npower has said it will put back an equivalent amount into the grid from renewable energy sources.

npower developed the EV charging technology through its parent company RWE Effizienz, which has installed more than 1,000 charging points across 14 European countries.

npower head of EV, Phil Evans, said that EV is essential for the UK to meet its longer-term climate goals, which will require road transport to be largely decarbonised by 2050 in line with government targets of 1.7m EVs and hybrids on British roads by 2020.

He said: “We are the only energy supplier in Europe to have a utility-scale billing system to allow consumers to charge their vehicles and bill either their home or business accounts. This will do-away with the need to pay subscriptions or to carry a payment card.

“The launch of juice-e is the first step on a journey towards realising the benefits of an electricity-based transport system. In the coming months we will begin to explore the possibilities of vehicle-to-grid (V2G), where EVs sell energy back to the grid at peak times, and vehicle-to-home/business where EVs can provide electricity in the event of a power-loss.

It is anticipated that switching to juice-e could save customers driving petrol or diesel vehicles on average 10,000 miles each year from around £1,300 to less than £200 using EV.

“Electric vehicles potentially have a huge part to play in our every day lives; getting us from A-to-B, powering our homes and even earning us money when not in use. If not today then certainly tomorrow, electric vehicles are a vision of the future that is here to stay”, added Mr Evans.

Carys Matthews

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