Intelligent Octopus Go now gives your EV up to six hours of cheaper smart charging each day. Any additional EV charging beyond the six-hour limit will be charged at the higher peak rate.
Some cars may need more than six hours of charging to reach your target percentage, and this is where Charge Cap comes in.
Charge Cap is a new feature within the Octopus app (or supported apps) that can stop your car from charging before your car moves onto the more expensive rate.
The most important thing to understand is that the six-hour EV allowance does not remove your home’s normal overnight cheap period.
| What to know | Intelligent Octopus Go |
|---|---|
| Home off-peak period | 11:30pm–5:30am every night |
| EV cheap smart charging | Up to 6 hours per day |
| Allowance measured | Midday to midday |
| Extra smart slots | Can occur outside 11:30pm–5:30am |
| After 6 EV hours | Additional EV charging can move to peak rate |
| Charge Cap | Can stop supported setups before peak charging begins |
Your household electricity is still guaranteed the off-peak rate between 11:30pm and 5:30am every night.
The six-hour allowance applies specifically to your EV’s discounted smart charging.
You can also read our Intelligent Octopus Go guide for current rates, eligibility, compatible cars and chargers, and a full explanation of how the tariff works.
How does the Intelligent Octopus Go six-hour limit work?
Intelligent Octopus Go now separates your household electricity from the electricity used to charge your connected EV.
Your car can receive up to six hours of cheaper managed charging each day, measured from midday to midday.
Your home’s guaranteed 11:30pm to 5:30am off-peak period is separate.
Octopus describes the new setup as a four-rate system:
| Usage | What it means |
|---|---|
| Peak home usage | Household electricity used outside a qualifying off-peak period |
| Off-peak home usage | Electricity used from 11:30pm–5:30am, plus qualifying additional smart-charging periods |
| Peak EV usage | EV charging that does not qualify for the cheaper smart-charging rate |
| Off-peak EV usage | Up to six hours of qualifying smart EV charging |
The important part is that your home and EV can now be billed at different rates at the same time.
Your home always receives the cheaper rate between 11:30pm and 5:30am.
Your connected EV receives up to six hours of cheaper smart charging per day.
Octopus can schedule those six hours overnight, during the day or across several different charging periods depending on when your car is plugged in and when it needs to be ready.
Your home still gets six cheap hours every night
One of the easiest mistakes to make is assuming the six-hour EV allowance has replaced Intelligent Octopus Go’s usual overnight period.
It hasn’t.
Your home is still guaranteed cheaper electricity between 11:30pm and 5:30am every night, whether your EV is charging or not.
That means household electricity used during this period — such as your dishwasher, washing machine or home battery charging — receives the tariff’s off-peak home rate.
Your EV has its own separate six-hour smart-charging allowance.
This means reaching 11:30pm does not automatically give the car another six hours of cheap charging if it has already used its allowance earlier in the same midday-to-midday period.
An example makes the six-hour limit much easier to understand
Imagine you plug your EV in during the afternoon and Octopus schedules it to smart charge from:
1:00pm to 7:00pm
That represents six hours of smart charging.
Because Octopus scheduled the charging, your EV receives the off-peak EV rate during those six hours.
Your home also receives the cheaper rate during those qualifying smart-charging periods, even though they are outside the normal 11:30pm to 5:30am window.
By 7:00pm, however, your EV has used its full six-hour discounted smart-charging allowance.
At 11:30pm, your home’s normal Intelligent Octopus Go off-peak period begins.
Your household electricity is now cheap until 5:30am as normal.
But your EV has already used its six-hour allowance.
If the car continues or starts charging again, that additional EV charging can therefore be charged at the peak EV rate, while electricity used by the rest of your home remains on the off-peak home rate.
So at 1:00am, for example, you could have:
- your dishwasher using electricity at the off-peak rate
- your washing machine using electricity at the off-peak rate
- the rest of your household usage at the off-peak rate
- your EV charging at the peak rate
It initially sounds unusual, but it is possible because Intelligent Octopus Go can separate the electricity used by your EV from the rest of your household consumption.
Important: 11:30pm does not reset the EV’s six-hour allowance.
If your EV has already used six hours of discounted smart charging, the start of your home’s overnight period does not provide another six hours for the car.
The EV allowance resets at midday.
What actually is Charge Cap?
The six-hour charging allowance and Charge Cap are closely related, but they are not the same thing.
The six-hour allowance is part of how Intelligent Octopus Go works:
Your EV receives up to six hours of discounted smart charging per day.
Charge Cap is a feature designed to help prevent your car from continuing to charge once doing so would move it onto the more expensive rate.
Where Charge Cap is available for your connected setup, you can enable it so charging automatically stops before the car begins using electricity at the peak EV rate.
This is particularly useful if you would rather your EV stop charging than automatically continue at the higher price.
However, exactly how this works can depend on how your car or charger is connected to Intelligent Octopus Go.
Does Charge Cap work with every car and charger?
The six-hour charging rule applies to Intelligent Octopus Go, but the way you control charging can vary depending on your integration.
For many supported setups, Charge Cap is available through the Octopus Energy app.
However, there are some differences.
Ohme chargers
If Intelligent Octopus Go is connected through an Ohme charger, charging is managed primarily through the Ohme app.
Ohme users can select Prioritise Savings to help keep charging within the six-hour cheaper allowance.
Selecting Prioritise Target instead prioritises reaching the requested battery target, which can mean charging for longer than six hours and paying the peak rate for the additional charging.
BMW, MINI and Polestar
Customers connected directly through supported BMW, MINI or Polestar integrations manage their battery target and departure time through the vehicle manufacturer’s app.
These integrations do not currently have the same automatic Charge Cap stopping feature.
Instead, Octopus can send a notification if your requested charge is expected to take you beyond the six-hour cheaper allowance.
You can then reduce your charging target if you want to avoid using the peak rate.
The exact controls available can change as Octopus updates its integrations, so check the settings shown for your own connected device.
What happens if I need more than six hours of EV charging?
You can still request enough charge to reach the battery level you need.
However, only the first six hours of qualifying smart charging receive the cheaper EV rate.
For example:
Seven hours of charging required
- First six hours: off-peak EV rate
- Final hour: peak EV rate
The time at which that final hour occurs does not necessarily change this.
If the seventh hour happens at 2:00am, your household electricity can still be receiving the cheap overnight rate while the EV itself is charged at the peak EV rate.
If Charge Cap or an equivalent savings setting is enabled for your setup, charging can instead stop before it moves onto the more expensive rate.
You then have a choice between:
Prioritising cost: stop after the cheaper allowance has been used.
Prioritising charge: continue charging until your requested battery level is reached, even if some charging is billed at the peak rate.
Do daytime smart-charging slots still make your whole home cheaper?
Yes.
This remains one of the useful features of Intelligent Octopus Go.
If Octopus schedules your EV to smart charge outside the normal 11:30pm to 5:30am period, your household electricity also receives the off-peak rate during those qualifying half-hour periods while the smart charging is within the EV’s cheaper allowance.
For example, imagine Octopus schedules your car to charge from:
2:00pm to 4:00pm
Your EV receives its discounted smart-charging rate during those two hours.
Your household electricity also receives the cheaper rate during the qualifying smart-charging periods.
You then still receive your normal household off-peak period between 11:30pm and 5:30am that night.
The daytime smart-charging period does not reduce your home’s six-hour overnight window.
It uses part of the EV’s separate six-hour charging allowance.
When does the six-hour EV allowance reset?
Octopus measures your six-hour EV smart-charging allowance from midday to midday.
It does not run midnight to midnight and does not reset when your household off-peak period starts at 11:30pm.
For example, charging between:
2:00pm Monday and 8:00pm Monday
would use the full six-hour allowance for that midday-to-midday period.
Reaching midnight would not reset it.
The next allowance begins at midday on Tuesday.
This is particularly important when interpreting charging sessions that cross midnight.
Does being plugged in count towards the six hours?
No.
Only the time your EV is actually being smart charged counts towards the six-hour allowance.
If your car remains plugged in for ten hours but Octopus only actively charges it for four of those hours, only the four hours of actual charging count.
Simply remaining connected does not use the allowance.
That is one reason Intelligent Octopus Go is designed around plugging the car in and allowing Octopus to determine when the charging takes place.
Is it six hours or twelve half-hour charging slots?
The six-hour allowance is based on the actual amount of time the EV is charged, rather than simply counting twelve half-hour billing periods.
Billing itself still takes place in half-hour periods.
For example, if the EV charges for only part of a particular half hour, Octopus can still apply the qualifying off-peak rate to that complete half-hour billing period.
But when determining whether the EV has used its six-hour allowance, Octopus looks at how long the car was actually charging.
What happens if I use Boost charging?
Boost charging lets you start charging the car immediately rather than allowing Octopus to wait for its normal smart-charging schedule.
This is useful when you need additional range quickly.
However, Boost charging does not receive the same guaranteed discounted treatment as qualifying smart charging.
Octopus says the EV can be charged at the normal peak rate when you choose to Boost charge, including where the home itself is currently receiving its cheaper overnight rate.
If keeping charging costs as low as possible is the priority, it is therefore generally better to leave Intelligent Octopus Go in control and allow it to create the smart-charging schedule.
Use Boost when getting charge into the car immediately is more important than securing the cheaper EV rate.
Why has Intelligent Octopus Go introduced a six-hour allowance?
Intelligent Octopus Go is built around Octopus deciding when compatible EVs charge.
Rather than providing unlimited discounted smart charging whenever a connected EV needs energy, the tariff now provides up to six hours of cheaper managed EV charging during each midday-to-midday period.
Octopus says its data shows that more than 80% of EV charging sessions last less than six hours, meaning the allowance is designed to cover the normal charging requirements of most customers.
For drivers who regularly arrive home with a very low battery or need large amounts of charge in a single session, however, the limit is more important.
These households are more likely to face the choice between stopping after six hours or allowing additional charging at the higher rate.
Does the six-hour limit make Intelligent Octopus Go worse?
It depends on how you normally charge your EV.
For drivers whose typical charging sessions are comfortably under six hours, the limit may make relatively little difference.
The important change is that you should no longer think of Intelligent Octopus Go as simply providing unlimited cheap EV charging whenever Octopus chooses to schedule it.
There are now two separate things to remember:
Your home: guaranteed off-peak electricity from 11:30pm to 5:30am every night.
Your EV: up to six hours of cheaper qualifying smart charging per day, measured midday to midday.
If Octopus schedules some of that EV charging outside the overnight window, your home can also benefit from additional cheaper periods.
But once the EV has used its six-hour allowance, additional charging can move onto the peak rate.
For most drivers, the simplest approach is to plug in regularly, allow Octopus to smart charge the car and use Charge Cap or the equivalent savings controls available for your integration if you want to avoid paying the higher EV rate.
You can read our complete Intelligent Octopus Go guide for current tariff rates, eligibility, compatibility and a broader explanation of how the tariff works.
Intelligent Octopus Go Charge Cap FAQs
Is Intelligent Octopus Go still cheap from 11:30pm to 5:30am?
Yes.
Your household electricity is still guaranteed the tariff’s off-peak home rate between 11:30pm and 5:30am every night.
Your EV is treated separately and receives up to six hours of qualifying discounted smart charging per midday-to-midday period.
Does my EV automatically get the cheap rate from 11:30pm to 5:30am?
Not necessarily.
If Octopus has scheduled qualifying smart charging during this period and the EV remains within its six-hour allowance, the car receives the off-peak EV rate.
However, if it has already used its full allowance, additional EV charging can be charged at the peak rate even though the rest of the home is still receiving cheaper electricity.
Can my home and EV be charged different rates at the same time?
Yes.
Intelligent Octopus Go separates EV consumption from household consumption.
For example, after the EV’s six-hour allowance has been used, your home could receive its normal off-peak rate at 2:00am while additional EV charging is billed at the peak rate.
What happens when my EV reaches six hours of charging?
Once the six-hour discounted smart-charging allowance has been used, additional EV charging can be billed at the peak rate.
If Charge Cap or an equivalent savings feature is available and enabled for your setup, the vehicle can instead stop charging before it begins using the more expensive rate.
Does the six-hour allowance include time when the car is plugged in but not charging?
No.
Only the time when the EV is actually being smart charged counts towards the allowance.
Does the allowance reset at 11:30pm?
No.
The EV charging allowance is measured from midday to midday.
11:30pm is the start of your home’s guaranteed off-peak period, not the reset point for the EV’s six-hour allowance.
Does Boost charging get the cheap Intelligent Octopus Go rate?
Not necessarily.
Octopus says choosing Boost charging can move the EV onto the normal standard rate because it is no longer following the qualifying smart-charging schedule.
If you want to maximise the chance of receiving the discounted EV rate, allow Octopus to manage the charging session.
Does Charge Cap work with Ohme?
Ohme handles the feature slightly differently.
Charging is managed in the Ohme app, where eligible users can choose Prioritise Savings to keep charging within the cheaper allowance.
Choosing Prioritise Target focuses instead on reaching the requested battery level and can result in charging beyond six hours at the higher rate.
Should I turn Charge Cap on?
If you rarely need more than six hours of charging and want to avoid accidentally paying the peak EV rate, Charge Cap can be useful.
If you occasionally need a larger charge and having enough range is more important than avoiding the higher rate, you may prefer to allow the car to continue charging.
The best choice depends on whether cost or reaching your requested battery level is more important for that particular charging session.