AGL has just upgraded it’s electricity plans for households with electric vehicle replacing the $1 per day plan that was popular with EV owners. The new “AGL Electric Vehicle plan” is the retailers most competitive plan for non-solar owners. The catch is you’ll need to own an EV to get onboard.
Could having access to cheaper electricity be another motivating factor to buy an EV?What you need to know
If you live in NSW, SE QLD, SA or Victoria, then AGL’s Electric Vehicle plan is big news if you’re not already powering your EV from your rooftop solar. What makes this plan so competitive? It’s the inclusion of $480 worth of credits over the plan’s two year benefit period. As a result of the big credit, the AGL Electric Vehicle plan ranks amongst the top 5 plans in most of the states it is offered.
Here’s a rundown on the what the plan includes:
- a $60 (inc GST) credit each quarter for the two year benefit period
- rates fixed for 2 years
- no contract period or exit fee
- carbon offset via AGL’s Future Forests program
- no restriction on when you can charge (although rates may vary at different times of day depending on your electricity tariff)
- support for customers on any meter type and tariff
- no additional meter installation or EV usage data
- however, you’ll need to BYO your EV charging equipment
Why is AGL offering EV owners a sweeter deal?
Electric vehicles are large users of power. An EV travelling 15,000km per year consumes 5-10kWh per day depending on the size and weight of the EV. This often makes EVs the largest electricity consumer in an efficient home. Given household energy use from the grid is flatlining, EV’s provide the single biggest growth opportunity for the electricity industry. So it’s no surprise they are eyeing off EV owners.
Here’s an example of how much electricity an EV, that was 90% charged at home would consume. Charging an EV in Sydney, such as the Hyundai Kona (15kWh per 100km) on an off-peak TOU rate of 13.62c per kWh will use 2,250kWh of electricity and cost $275p.a. If charging was at a flat/anytime tariff of 26.33c, then this would cost $513p.a.
That additional energy consumption certainly helps AGL offer $480 credits versus the $80 offered for its Essentials Plus plan. Effectively, AGL are offering a $200p.a. additional credit in this example for an EV owner buying $275 worth of electricity on an off-peak tariff. Given ~50% of that $275 goes to networks and other fees, AGL are making an investment to get EV owners onboard. Particularly, if they’re accessing cheaper off-peak or controlled load charging.
Fuel for thought:
Charging an EV from solar, Off-peak or controlled load electricity offers substantial savings over petrol. Avoid charging on peak or anytime tariffs where you can! In comparison, running a Hyundai Kona petrol vehicle for the same 15,000km would cost 15,000 * 6L/100km @ $1.50 per litre = $1,350. You’ll save $1000 p.a. on fuel cost with the Kona EV. Plus you won’t find any service station offering you an extra $200 p.a. off your petrol bills.How does it compare?
For existing AGL EV owners without solar at home, this is a very compelling offer. The new plan bypasses the additional meter and billing issues that affected the original $1 per day EV plan. No doubt, there will be interest in the EV community, both from existing AGL customers as well as for non-solar homes wanting a good deal for charging their EV. However, for those with solar or on anytime plans or without a suitable controlled load tariff, there will likely be cheaper plans out there.
If you’re an EV owner and want to know in how this plan stacks up in your circumstances you complete a comparison. When prompted, just make sure to answer Yes to whether you own an EV!
More EV support to come
So far the growth of the EVs in Australia has been slow. However, things are beginning to change. The Tesla Model 3 is rumoured to be filling ~3,500 orders in the second half of 2019 alone. New vehicles from Hyundai and Nissan have also ramped sales. Now AGL, is making it’s best plan exclusive to EV owners. While this isn’t the first EV plan, the attractive pricing is another signal from AGL that EV owning households is a market they’d like to get an early lead in.
Powershop are also off and running in the EV plan race. Powershop currently offer an EV trial plan in SE QLD with exceptionally low off-peak time of use rate – 8.5c per kWh everyday between 12am and 4am.
We expect more EV plans to be made available as retailers see the market growing and recognise that EVs offer a way to offset falling electricity usage driven by solar uptake and increasing appliance efficiency. As an EV owner and advocate, these new plans are fantastic to see. They will reward savvy EV owners who have made the switch away from petrol or diesel to a much cheaper and cleaner alternative
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