Bulb Launches EV Tariff with Cheaper Overnight Charging

Bulb is launching a new electric vehicle charging solution coordinated through an app and with discounted off-peak charging, to make it “cheaper and easier” to switch to electric.

Bulb’s new EV-focused energy tariff will supply 100% renewable electricity, priced at 20p per kilowatt-hour (kWh) during the day but discounted to just 4p/kWh between 2 am and 6 am, when most EVs will be plugged in. At that rate, drivers can refuel a standard 40kW Nissan Leaf, the most popular EV in the UK, for just £1.60.

The Bulb app will allow drivers to monitor the cost of this electricity and schedule charging of their vehicles while also providing visibility of their car’s live status, including its battery level, range and charging status.

The app is compatible with 75% of electric vehicles, the highest level of compatibility on the market, Bulb claims, because it connects to cars rather than to chargers.

Bulb’s website will become a one-stop-shop for helping drivers charge at home, allowing them to order an EO Mini Pro 2 charger, arrange its installation and apply for an EVHS grant, government funding to cover 75% of the cost of a charge point and its installation, up to £350.

The tariff is currently being trialled by Bulb members but will be offered to all two million households supplied by the company and the wider market in the coming weeks. 

Geraldine de Boisse, VP Innovation at Bulb, said the tariff will make it “cheaper and easier” for drivers to own an electric car and “do their bit for the planet.”

Bulb’s new offering is one of a range of electricity tariffs aimed at EV drivers, offering discounted charging and help getting home charge points set up. Bulb’s 4p/kWh rate for off-peak charging undercuts the rest of the market, including the tariff EDF launched in December as the “cheapest ever” EV deal, with overnight charging of 4.5p/kWh. However, Bulb’s charging hours at slightly more restrictive, applying between 2 am and 6 am, while EDF offers the discounted rate between midnight and 5 am.

If you need more flexibility with your charging schedule, consider OVO’s anytime EV tariff, which charges a flat rate of 6p/kWh of electricity, half its usual rate for electricity, no matter when drivers choose to juice up their vehicles.

Other energy suppliers try to lure EV drivers in with free mileage. The charging bundle from Shell Energy gives you 2,000 miles of free charging per year, the equivalent of £80 of credit annually.

Bulb was recently named Europe’s fastest-growing company, posting a compound annual growth rate of 1,159% between 2016 and 2019. Launched in just 2015, it now controls 6% of the domestic energy market in the UK and has expanded into France, Spain and Texas.

The UK has committed to banning the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030 as a stepping stone to net-zero.