Intelligent Octopus Go Review 2026: Smart Dispatch, Rates & Who It Suits

Intelligent Octopus Go is the UK’s most popular EV electricity tariff and the benchmark against which all smart home charging deals are measured. It gives your whole home a 6.5p/kWh off-peak rate for six hours every night, and its smart dispatch lets your car and charger work with Octopus’s Kraken platform to find the cheapest charging slots, including slots outside the overnight window, without you having to set a timer.

This review covers everything you need to know: how smart dispatch works, current rates, which chargers and EVs are compatible, and whether Intelligent Octopus Go is the right tariff for your situation.

How smart dispatch works

Unlike fixed-window tariffs where you set a timer and charge during a defined block, Intelligent Octopus Go combines a guaranteed overnight window with automatic scheduling. Every night from 23:30 to 05:30, everything in your home runs at the off-peak rate.

You set two things in the Octopus app: your target state of charge and your ready-by time. The Kraken platform then looks at wholesale prices and grid conditions and instructs your charger or EV to charge in the cheapest half-hour slots. It can schedule up to six hours of smart charging in any 24 hours, inside the overnight window, outside it, or a mix of both. Whenever a smart charging slot falls outside the overnight window, your whole home gets the off-peak rate for that slot as well.

The result is that your car charges when electricity is cheapest and cleanest, not just during a fixed block. This is particularly valuable on nights when renewable generation is high and grid demand is low.

What Intelligent Octopus Go costs

From 29 October 2026, new customers can take the variable tariff at 6.5p/kWh from 23:30 to 05:30 and during any smart charging slots, with no exit fee. The peak (daytime) rate averages 38.00p/kWh and the standing charge averages 55p a day; both vary by region, from 36.44p to 40.72p for the peak rate and from 43p to 67p a day for the standing charge. Octopus also sells a Flexible variable tariff (from 5 November 2026) at 9.9p/kWh overnight with a 33.90p/kWh average peak rate and no exit fee, and a 12-month fix at 7.9p/kWh (peak rate 39.99p/kWh on average) with a £50 exit fee. The variable tariff’s rates can change.

These prices include 0% VAT, which applies to household electricity in Great Britain from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. Until 30 September the previous version charged 8.4p/kWh including 5% VAT.

The off-peak rate applies to your whole home during the overnight window, not just your EV. Running your washing machine, dishwasher, or any other appliance overnight also benefits from the 6.5p rate.

A typical 60kWh EV battery costs around £3.90 to charge from empty at the 6.5p rate, compared with roughly £15.80 at the October 2026 price cap average of 26.32p/kWh; a saving of around £12 per full charge.

Which chargers are compatible?

For smart dispatch to work, Intelligent Octopus Go requires either a compatible smart home charger or a compatible electric vehicle. Octopus maintains a current compatibility list on their website, updated as new devices are certified.

Compatible smart chargers include: Ohme Home Pro, Ohme ePod, Indra Smart Pro, Indra Smart Lux, Hypervolt Home 3 Pro, MyEnergi Zappi, Easee One, Andersen A3, Andersen Quartz, Pod Point Solo 3S, and VCHRGD Seven Pro.

Compatible electric vehicles include models from: Tesla, Volkswagen Group (VW, Audi, Skoda), Kia, Hyundai, BMW, Polestar, Nissan, and others. Check Octopus’s current list before purchasing hardware specifically for Intelligent Octopus Go.

If your charger or car is not on the list, Octopus Go remains available at 9.4p/kWh with no compatibility requirements.

What a SMETS2 smart meter involves

Both Octopus tariffs require a SMETS2 smart meter. Octopus Energy will arrange a free installation if you do not already have one, though availability varies by region and some areas have longer wait times.

If you have an older SMETS1 meter, Octopus can advise on whether it is compatible or whether an upgrade is required before switching.

The Octopus app

The Octopus app is consistently rated best-in-class for EV tariff management in the UK. You can view half-hourly consumption data, see charging sessions broken out from household electricity use, track carbon intensity, and manage your ready-by time and charge target from your phone.

Octopus also operates the Electroverse public charging network, giving customers access to over 300,000 charge points across the UK and Europe. Public charging sessions can be billed to your Octopus account or paid separately via the Electroverse card.

When to consider a different tariff

Intelligent Octopus Go suits most UK EV drivers well, particularly those with or planning to install a compatible smart charger. The combination of smart dispatch, a low off-peak rate, renewable electricity and an excellent app makes it the most rounded package available.

However, the 38.00p/kWh average peak rate is higher than E.ON Next Drive Smart (34.32p/kWh) and E.ON Next Drive (35.17p/kWh). If your household uses significant electricity during the day, because someone works from home for instance, a tariff with a lower peak rate may deliver better overall annual value even with a slightly higher overnight rate. Octopus’s own Flexible option (9.9p/kWh overnight, 33.90p/kWh average peak rate) is built for that trade-off.

Compare all current options on our EV tariffs comparison page before switching.

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This page contains affiliate links. BestChargers.co.uk is an independent website and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Octopus Energy. Recommendations are based on our own research and editorial judgement. Sign-up credit of up to £50 is subject to Octopus Energy terms and conditions; only one switching offer applies per household. Octopus Energy’s 100% renewable electricity claim is matched through Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates under Ofgem’s Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin scheme; the electricity delivered to your home still comes from the national grid mix.