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OVO Charge Anytime Pay As You Go is a smart electric vehicle charging add-on that reduces qualifying home EV charging to 14 pence per kilowatt hour. It can be added to a compatible OVO household electricity tariff without a monthly subscription. The customer continues paying their normal tariff for lighting, appliances, heating and other household electricity. OVO then applies a credit for electricity used during qualifying smart-charging sessions, reducing the effective cost of that vehicle charging to 14 pence per kilowatt hour. This guide was checked on 11 July 2026.
The phrase "Pay As You Go" refers to the way the customer pays for EV charging rather than their household meter type. The customer pays according to the number of kilowatt hours smart charged into the vehicle. There is no fixed monthly Charge Anytime subscription and no included mileage allowance. OVO's eligibility terms require the customer to have an OVO pay-monthly electricity account and normally pay by Direct Debit. Customers using an OVO prepayment or top-up energy tariff are not currently eligible. This distinction is important because someone searching for a "pay as you go EV tariff" might incorrectly assume that it works with a prepayment meter.
All electricity is initially recorded and billed at the customer's ordinary OVO household electricity rate. OVO then calculates how much grid electricity was used for qualifying smart EV charging during the previous month. A Charge Anytime credit is normally added during the first working week of the following month. The credit reduces the effective cost of that smart-charging electricity to the current Charge Anytime rate of 14 pence per kilowatt hour. Standing charges and ordinary household consumption are not discounted. Suppose the household tariff charges 26 pence per kilowatt hour and the vehicle smart charges 200 kilowatt hours during the month. The initial electricity charge would be ยฃ52. Charging 200 kilowatt hours at 14 pence should cost ยฃ28. OVO would therefore apply a Charge Anytime credit of approximately ยฃ24, subject to the charging data being recorded correctly. The credit cannot normally be withdrawn as cash. If the customer leaves OVO while credit remains on the account, it is used when calculating the final energy bill.
OVO remotely manages the timing of the vehicle's charging through the OVO Charge app and the Kaluza Flex platform. The driver enters the amount of charge required and chooses a "ready by" time. OVO then schedules the charging during periods it identifies as cheaper and lower in carbon intensity, while aiming to deliver the requested charge by the selected deadline. OVO recommends setting the ready time at least three hours ahead to receive the 14 pence rate. Charging may start, stop and restart during the session. This is normal because the system is responding to grid demand, wholesale conditions and the vehicle's charging requirement. Unlike a conventional overnight EV tariff, Charge Anytime is not restricted to one published block of cheap hours. A vehicle can be plugged in during the day or night, provided OVO is given enough flexibility to manage the charging.
The driver can override the smart schedule by selecting Urgent Charge when electricity is needed immediately. Urgent charging begins without waiting for OVO's optimised schedule, but it does not qualify for the Charge Anytime credit. The electricity is charged at the customer's normal household tariff rate. This can make a significant difference where the ordinary tariff rate is much higher than 14 pence. A driver who frequently arrives home with an empty battery and needs to leave again shortly afterwards may receive less benefit than someone who can keep the vehicle connected for several hours. OVO's terms also say that frequent use of Urgent Charge can result in the customer being removed from Charge Anytime because the service depends on OVO being allowed to optimise charging.
The customer needs either a compatible electric vehicle or a compatible smart charger. Both do not have to be compatible. Where the vehicle itself is supported, OVO can connect through the manufacturer's online services and obtain the data needed to manage charging. Where the vehicle is not directly supported, a compatible charger may provide the connection instead. OVO's compatibility list was last updated in April 2026 and should be checked before changing tariff or purchasing charging equipment. The customer should connect through only one route. Trying to register both the vehicle and charger can lead to charging or crediting problems. Compatibility can change through software updates, manufacturer decisions and new integrations. A vehicle or charger appearing on an older list should not be assumed to remain supported indefinitely.
Charge Anytime requires a working smart electricity meter capable of sending half-hourly readings to OVO. OVO currently identifies SMETS2 meters from any manufacturer and Secure-manufactured SMETS1 meters as the main compatible types. The customer must also consent to half-hourly meter-data sharing. The vehicle or charger needs a stable internet connection so that OVO and Kaluza can receive charging information and send instructions. If the vehicle, charger or platform goes offline, OVO may be unable to record the session as smart charging. Electricity used while charging data is unavailable may not receive the Charge Anytime credit. This means internet reliability is part of the tariff's practical operation, not merely an app convenience.
Solar households need additional care. OVO credits only electricity taken from the grid during qualifying smart charging. Electricity supplied directly by the household's solar panels does not qualify for a Charge Anytime credit because the customer did not buy that electricity from OVO. Customers with solar panels currently need a solar-compatible charger recognised by OVO. The installation may also require a current-transformer clamp so the charging system can distinguish grid electricity from locally generated solar electricity. Using free solar electricity may still be financially better than buying grid electricity at 14 pence. The system simply prevents the customer from receiving an OVO credit for energy that came from their own panels.
At 14 pence per kilowatt hour, the cost per mile depends on the vehicle's efficiency. A car achieving four miles per kilowatt hour costs approximately 3.5 pence per mile. A less efficient vehicle achieving three miles per kilowatt hour costs about 4.7 pence per mile. A highly efficient vehicle achieving five miles per kilowatt hour costs around 2.8 pence per mile. OVO's own advertised mileage illustration uses an assumed efficiency of four miles per kilowatt hour. Actual performance varies with temperature, speed, vehicle size, road conditions, heating and driving style.
A driver travelling 10,000 miles a year in a vehicle averaging 3.5 miles per kilowatt hour would need approximately 2,857 kilowatt hours stored in the battery. Allowing for charging losses of 10 per cent increases the grid requirement to roughly 3,175 kilowatt hours. At the Charge Anytime rate, that electricity would cost approximately ยฃ444.50. At an ordinary household price of 26 pence per kilowatt hour, the same amount would cost ยฃ825.50. The indicative annual reduction would therefore be around ยฃ381, assuming all charging qualified as smart charging and the rates remained unchanged.
OVO applies a fair-usage limit of ยฃ100 in Charge Anytime credit per account each month. Once the maximum credit has been reached, further charging is charged at the household's ordinary electricity rate. The number of kilowatt hours covered before reaching the limit depends on the difference between the household tariff and the 14 pence Charge Anytime rate. Most ordinary domestic drivers are unlikely to reach the limit, but it could affect a very high-mileage household, taxi driver, delivery vehicle or property charging several cars. OVO also requires the vehicle to be charged principally at the home address registered to the energy account.
The Pay As You Go add-on does not have a monthly subscription. Customers can remove it through their OVO account or the relevant charging app. OVO says accrued credit up to the cancellation date will normally be applied during the following month. A customer can generally add Charge Anytime again from the next month after cancellation. Cancelling Charge Anytime does not automatically cancel the underlying energy tariff. However, a fixed household tariff may have its own separate exit fee if the customer also chooses to leave OVO. OVO reserves the right to change the Charge Anytime rate or product conditions after giving reasonable notice where a change disadvantages the customer.
Pay As You Go charges according to actual qualifying EV electricity use. OVO's monthly plans instead charge a fixed monthly fee and include a maximum smart-charging allowance, an annual public-charging voucher and, depending on the plan, additional EV benefits. The monthly plans currently range from 175 kilowatt hours of included home smart charging for ยฃ27.50 a month to 500 kilowatt hours for ยฃ79.50 a month. Electricity used beyond the plan allowance is charged at the customer's normal household rate. Pay As You Go may be better for a low-mileage driver or someone whose monthly travel varies considerably. A monthly plan may provide better value for a driver who regularly uses most of its home-charging allowance and values the included public-charging voucher and additional services.
OVO Charge Anytime Pay As You Go is best suited to an eligible EV owner who charges mainly at home, can leave the vehicle connected for several hours and does not want a fixed monthly charging subscription. It may work particularly well for low- or moderate-mileage drivers because they pay only for the electricity actually smart charged. It may be less suitable where the vehicle and charger are incompatible, the smart meter does not communicate reliably or the driver frequently needs urgent charging. The add-on should also be compared with whole-home overnight tariffs. Charge Anytime discounts only qualifying EV charging, while a conventional time-of-use tariff may also reduce the cost of battery charging, water heating and household appliances. Its main advantage is flexibility: the vehicle can be connected during the day or night, and OVO chooses the charging periods. Its main limitation is that the customer must allow OVO to control the charging and maintain the smart-meter, internet and device connections needed to calculate the monthly credit.
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