In mid-April I switched from Next Drive Fixed V5 to Next Drive Smart V2 but have now switched again, to Next Drive Fixed V7. It's possible someone may be interested in my reasoning.

My reasons for switching to the Smart tariff:
  • The changes to standing charge and peak rate price would have the effect of increasing my annual bill by about £60, but this would be more than offset by the £10/month inducement.
  • Permitting EOn to 'modulate' the car charging should have the effect of 'greening' the grid and making me feel virtuous.
My main reason for switching away from the Smart tariff is frustration. Every time I want to charge and plug the car in EOn seems to take a long time to realise (the app continues to say 'unplugged', typically for 10 minutes or longer). Once the app realises the car is plugged in it then says 'Idle', but the car is still charging. Typically, after a few more minutes I get fed up and try and sync the app with the car behaviour by engaging Boost. The app will then say Boosting but typically refuses to respond to my instruction to stop boosting. Eventually the app will say 'Idle' and I find the car has actually stopped charging. In other words, every time I plug the car in it will charge for perhaps around 15 minutes (so approx 2kWh), presumably at peak rate. It also means for that period I am wasting time fussing about what is happening.

Now I've switched back to a Next Drive Fixed tariff I just plug the car secure in the knowledge that the schedule on the charge point will look after things and ensure that all charging is done at the off-peak rate.

I'm losing the £10/month inducement but have decided that my peace of mind plus no charging at peak rates is worth it.

Despite all the above I would consider switching back to a Smart tariff in future provided:
  • the control was via the charge point (Zappi) rather than the car. (My recollection from when I was on Octopus Intelligent Go is that when control was via the Zappi it was possible to ensure that no charging occured at peak rate.)
  • I wasn't paying for the privilege.
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