Tariffs and grants / Supplier-specific tariffs / ScottishPower EV Saver

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ScottishPower EV Saver

Cheap overnight EV rate with smart meter and charger requirements.

Tariff availability, rates and terms were checked on 22 July 2026. They are a dated snapshot, so confirm the address-specific quote and current terms before acting.

ScottishPower EV Saver is a fixed-term time-of-use tariff for households with an EV. It charges a low unit rate during a five-hour overnight window and a higher rate through the rest of the day. The night rate applies to everything the home uses in that window, not only the car. It works with any make of EV and any home charger, and it needs a single-rate smart meter that can send half-hourly readings. Payment is by monthly Direct Debit. ScottishPower matches the supply with Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates from its own generation, mostly UK wind, and describes the electricity as 100% green.

Off-peak rate, day rate and standing charge

ScottishPower’s current product page quotes 8.5p per kWh for the off-peak band. Older comparison pages still show 7.2p or the 7.45p launch price, but those are not the current advertised rate. The peak rate and standing charge depend on the tariff version and address, and appear in the customer’s quote and tariff confirmation.

The current terms describe peak and off-peak bands but do not provide one national peak rate or standing charge. Those figures should therefore be taken from a live ScottishPower quote, not from a comparison-site example for another region or tariff issue.

Because the day rate sits well above the off-peak rate, the tariff only pays if enough usage falls in the cheap window. ScottishPower notes that if less than roughly a third of a home’s electricity is used during the off-peak hours, another tariff may suit it better.

Off-peak hours and the daylight-saving shift

The off-peak window runs from midnight to 5am, five hours a night. Two daylight-saving details change when that window actually falls.

For most customers the night rate follows Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). During British Summer Time, from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, the window shifts to 1am to 6am. A charge scheduled for midnight to 5am across the summer misses the first cheap hour and runs one hour into the day rate, so the charger schedule needs adjusting when the clocks change.

Some first-generation SMETS1 (Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specification, first version) meters do not adjust for British Summer Time. On the LG, Itron and Aclara models named by ScottishPower, the night band stays at midnight to 5am all year.

Smart meter and the Economy 5 configuration

EV Saver depends on a single-rate smart meter that can send half-hourly readings, with working smart functionality and adequate signal. ScottishPower installs one for free where a home does not already have a suitable meter.

By signing up, a customer agrees to let ScottishPower configure the meter to Economy 5, which sets the Day and Night rates by the tariff’s time bands. If the meter cannot be set up that way, for example because of poor signal or an incompatible model, the household is not eligible.

Eligibility and joining through the standard variable tariff

To take EV Saver a household needs to:

  • be a ScottishPower electricity customer
  • be aged 16 or over
  • own or lease an EV
  • have a home EV charger installed
  • have a single-rate smart meter capable of half-hourly readings
  • pay by monthly Direct Debit

New customers cannot join EV Saver directly. They join ScottishPower on the Standard Variable tariff first, then switch to EV Saver through their online account.

Any charger works, but the scheduling is yours

EV Saver works with any brand of home charger. There is no approved-charger list and no requirement for the car or charger to communicate with ScottishPower. The tariff bills the night band at the off-peak rate whatever draws the power, so it is up to the owner to keep charging inside the window using the car’s timer, the charger’s schedule or a manual start. This differs from a dispatch tariff such as Octopus Intelligent Go, which needs a compatible car or charger and moves the charging itself.

EV Optimise and whether it works with EV Saver

EV Optimise is a separate smart-charging add-on that ScottishPower launched in September 2024. It is not a tariff in its own right. The owner sets a ready-by time and a charge target in the ScottishPower app, and ScottishPower controls the charging remotely to hit cheaper and lower-carbon periods. Charging is billed at the normal tariff rate and the saving comes back as a separate bill credit, with the smart-charging rate quoted at 8p per kWh. It ran at a promotional 6p for customers buying an Easee charger. As of May 2026 it does not charge during peak hours, 4pm to 8pm every day. Not every EV is compatible, so ScottishPower asks the customer to complete an eligibility survey first.

EV Optimise cannot be combined with EV Saver. The EV Optimise support page and its terms both state that the add-on excludes ScottishPower’s time-of-use tariffs, which include EV Saver, Heat Saver and Solar Saver. The main EV Saver landing page muddies this by promoting EV Optimise alongside the tariff, but the detailed pages agree the two do not go together.

Check completed sessions against the charger record and half-hourly meter data. A planned schedule is not evidence that charging actually ran or received the expected credit.

Exit fees, contract length and moving home

EV Saver is a fixed-term contract. Its exact end date and exit fee are part of the tariff confirmation for the offer being sold. The current terms say a customer may move to another ScottishPower tariff without paying the exit fee and that the tariff cannot be carried to a new address. ScottishPower will instead offer the tariffs available at the new property.

Pairing with solar and battery storage

The gap between the off-peak and day rates can make overnight battery charging worthwhile, but the calculation must use the household’s quoted peak rate, battery round-trip efficiency and any effect on battery warranty throughput. A cheap import rate alone does not guarantee a saving.

For export, ScottishPower runs SEG tariffs separately:

  • SmartGen at 6p per kWh
  • SmartGen Premium at 12p per kWh, for households that also take their import supply from ScottishPower
  • SmartGen Premium Plus at 15p per kWh, where ScottishPower installed the solar or battery

EV Optimise works in solar and battery homes, but its scheduling does not take account of on-site generation or stored energy. Only grid electricity qualifies for the smart-charging credit.

How it compares with other overnight EV tariffs

EV Saver is a conventional two-rate tariff: the five-hour cheap band applies to the whole home and the customer schedules the charging. Managed products such as Intelligent Octopus Go and ScottishPower’s own EV Optimise control a compatible car or charger and may schedule outside a fixed overnight band. Other whole-home tariffs offer different window lengths, peak rates, standing charges and exit terms. A useful comparison therefore uses the complete quote and the household’s half-hourly demand, rather than ranking products by their cheapest unit rate alone.

Applies to

EV charging

Last reviewed

22 Jul 2026