Unless you’ve been living under a rock the chances you haven’t heard of the EV charger brand named Ohme – is extremely unlikely.
Who they are though, isn’t well known. So pull up a chair and let you share what I’ve learnt about them, some of which may explain how they have reached such notoriety in such a short space of time.
CO founded in 2017 by David Watson and Derry Guy whilst researching in projects surrounding clean energy.
David Watson theorised a charging system unlike no other before it, a system that was ‘smart’ allowing it to charge during off peak periods. Meaning its users would benefit from massively reduced energy rates and during times of over-supply – even be paid to charge.
The first Ohme EV charger prototype was produced in 2018, with Octopus energy being the first supplier with the production unit in 2019 being compatible with Octopus energy’s ‘Agile’ tariff, which was solely for EV users only.
Octopus Agile is a tariff that has live pricing – with ever changing wholesale costs being reflected in the charges every 30 minutes or so, especially during peak periods.
With Ohme being Octopus compatible – it means the EV charger can be switched as and when market forces dictate its most cost effective and to minimise disruption and damage to our energy networks during periods of peak demand.
Now this integration with smart tariffs has been a game changer for the industry and has propelled Ohme into the fast lane of Domestic EV charging – folks are able to charge their cars overnight for as little as 7.5p a kWh, with Octopus and Ohme communicating in perfect harmony to switch the charger and on off as required.
This shifting of loads will be done when parts of the grid come under intense loading (such as a generating unit coming off-line for maintenance) or the grid has surplus energy which cannot be expelled quickly and efficiently (e.g local factory is on a reduced workforce).
It’s safe to assume that the data obtained from all the chargers and homeowner Smart meters and is not only highly valuable for Ohme and Octopus but also the energy grid operators as well as other energy generators, allowing them to balance huge loads of energy at what traditionally has been a low demand time period, aka off-peak as most homes and industries are in sleep mode.
This technology and the very attractive charging rates that brings (as little as 7.5p a unit for up to 6 hours per night/morning) have made the Ohme chargers the most sought after in the market for cost conscious consumers who want to maximise their bang for buck when switching from ICE to EV vehicles and are installing a EV charger at home.
