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Comparison of electricity plans for Australian EV owners

EVs use a large chunk of electricity and electricity retailers sell electricity, so it’s no surprise that some Australian electricity retailers have begun offering EV specific plans that provide incentives to bring your electricity account over to them.

Right now there’s three retailers offering EV owners various incentives to sign up, let’s take a look at each one and see how they compare to the best offers on the market. By the way, I’m only looking at the Victorian Powercor distribution area. Pricing will be different for you!

AGL — Electric Vehicle Plan

AGL used to have $1/day charging, but dropped it when it became too cumbersome to add a new meter to each customer’s home just for measuring EV consumption (as Keith found out). Their new offer provides $60 of credit every 3 months, regardless of how often you charge your EV. To be eligible you just need to own an EV.

Plan details: agl.com.au
Supply: 121.12c/day
Usage: 22.25c/kWh
Solar FIT: 12c/kWh

Origin – Solar Boost Plus

Origin’s Solar Boost Plus plan with high feed-in tariffs are normally reserved for customers who have solar panels installed by Origin, but as part of a promotional deal with Hyundai, Kona and Ioniq owners can access those plans too. I couldn’t find an energy fact sheet for this plan. The details I’ve provided here were sent as a personalised quote via Origin’s call center after I inquired about their Hyundai EV owner offers.

Plan details: origin.com.au
Supply: 122.0967c/day
Usage: 23.7897c/kWh
FIT: 20c/kWh

Powershop – Shopper Market Offer (Electric Vehicles)

After a trial in QLD, Powershop has made its electric vehicle offer available to those in NSW & VIC. Unlike other electricity retailers, Powershop relies on the customer using their smartphone to buy “packs” that enable discounts. Their energy fact sheet states that there’s a 23.2% discount if you do that, but I don’t know how often the packs appear. For the sake of comparison, I’ve listed prices here after the 23.2% discount. Powershop will also make you move from a single rate tariff to a flexible tariff – something to be aware of for those wanting to keep their simple peak pricing (like me).

Plan details: powershop.com.au
Supply: 108.31104c/day
Peak: 29.3376c/kWh
Shoulder: 23.3472c/kWh
Off-peak: 18.72384c/kWh
Super off peak: 12.21c/kWh
Solar FIT: 12c/kWh

Are these plans simply gimmicks?

Overall, these plans aren’t necessarily a slam dunk for EV owners. Powershop’s & AGL’s solar FIT is quite low and Origin’s peak times are quite high. For Victorians at least, there are probably better overall offers with companies like Tango, Momentum and Amaysim – so be sure to do your homework and don’t get sucked in by the EV-branding.

Anthony also produces The Sizzle - a daily email newsletter covering all aspects of technology with an Australian point of view.

2 Comments

  1. Diamond Energy are another that don’t use any fossil fuels. While they do use some biomass generation, which does produce some greenhouse gases, it is no where near as harmful as coal. Anyone know the specific e-CO2 for Australian biomass per kWh? Anyway Diamond also own a number of solar assets including the Coolum Solar farm and have been great to deal with, very personable and up-front honest.

  2. In Western Australia we have an EV plan from our sole residential customer retailer but it’s even cheaper to go on the time of use tariff and charge during the day if you have surplus solar or from 9pm-7am on the off peak rate. So long as you can manage the peak charge period from 3pm-9pm, it can work out well.

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