Customer Stories: Smart Home Charge made the EV switch painless

Wanting to avoid paying the ULEZ charge, Christoph brought a Mini Electric and arranged a Ohme Home Pro so that he could take advantage of the cheap rates offered by Intelligent Octopus Go

What made you buy a Mini Electric?

My wife had a Mini diesel and enjoyed it, but we wanted to switch to a greener option; it could only really be with Mini.

We live in Greater London so it made sense to make the switch to electric, particularly with additional charges like the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).

What made you decide to get an Ohme Home Pro?

We probably would have been less likely to make the switch to EV if we couldn’t charge from home, but we have off-street parking so we knew we would be able to take advantage of the convenience and running costs before making the switch.

Since getting the electric Mini I’ve put in solar and a battery management system, as well as switching to Octopus Intelligent at 7.5p KwH, which is pretty damn cheap!

Diesel at the current rates is around 10 times more expensive.

Did you find the world of EV charging at home confusing initially?

The concern was about whether the car would do what it said it would in terms of range.

With petrol or diesel, you feel confident about how many miles you’ll get out of it.

I don’t really take the Mini out on the motorway, but we knew when we got the Mini that we were only really going to use it for short trips in urban traffic.

The Mini really has been phenomenal. I was also a little concerned about the installation process and how that would work with living in an older building and the electrics we have here.

It all worked out extremely well!

How has owning an EV changed how you think about home energy?

Getting an EV has really spurred me on to understand more about renewables and home energy.

It can be difficult to grasp some of these things about EV ownership until you end up living with one and experiencing it yourself.

Once you’re in, you start understanding all the benefits of EV ownership and then what’s available with renewables, like solar.

I currently have a feed in tariff that I generate from my solar array.

I charge the Mini at night, but the energy I generate during the day I sell it back into the grid, or use it myself when electricity costs are high.

I’ve found researching and building out my home energy solution particularly interesting and rewarding.

How did you find Smart Home Charge?

I looked at a few options and I’d read a magazine where I’d seen some information about the Ohme and comparisons with other chargers.

I then searched for installers that could supply and install the Ohme in my area.

I was looking for a simple process and to source a charger that was going to be easy to use.

How did you get on with the online site survey? Did you find it easy to follow?

I had a phone call just so I could explain where our power board is.

We have a small cellar that I wanted the cabling to run through to the front door.

It was incredibly straightforward.

How would you rate your installer and the work they did?

The two engineers that came out did a brilliant job.

You can’t see any of the cabling and they kept everything tidy.

What I thought was going to be a difficult job turned out to be a relatively easy install.

What would you say to someone who is looking to buy a home EV charging point and is considering Smart Home Charge?

With Smart Home Charge the switch to EVs was far less painful than I was expecting.