Octopus Intelligent Go vs Octopus Go: Which Saves You More?

The short answer

For most Tesla owners, Intelligent Go beats Octopus Go — 7p/kWh against 8.5p/kWh, six off-peak hours against five, and the car talks to the tariff directly so the charger doesn't need to be smart. Over 10,000 miles a year that's around £43 saved; over three years, £130. The bigger move, by a wide margin, is being on a smart EV tariff at all: that's worth £500–600 a year either way against a standard variable rate.

Octopus runs two dedicated EV tariffs: Intelligent Go and Octopus Go. Both offer cheap overnight electricity; they diverge on how it's delivered. One talks to the car; the other hands you a window and lets you schedule the rest. For the broader landscape, see the tariff comparison page or the best EV charging tariffs for 2026.

Side by side

The headline gap: 1.5p/kWh cheaper off-peak and one extra hour of cheap power each night.

Off-peak window

Intelligent Go runs 11:30pm to 5:30am — six hours, up to 42 kWh on a 7 kW wallbox, around 145 miles of range. Octopus Go runs 12:30am to 5:30am — five hours, up to 35 kWh, around 120 miles.

For an average UK driver doing 20–30 miles a day (7–10 kWh), either window is comfortable. Drive 80+ miles a day, or want the dishwasher and immersion heater on the cheap rate too, and Intelligent Go's extra hour starts to count.

Intelligent Go also picks up bonus off-peak slots — extra cheap-rate windows during the day when the grid has spare renewables. They're only available on Intelligent Go, and if you're home to catch them, they compound the savings quietly.

Scheduling

This is the substantive difference between the two.

Intelligent Go — the car does the talking

Intelligent Go integrates with the vehicle API. You connect the Tesla account in the Octopus app once; from then on, Octopus schedules charging through the car itself. Set a ready-by time and a target charge level — Octopus fits charging inside the off-peak window automatically, and may start earlier or fold in bonus cheap-rate periods when the grid has spare renewable capacity.

The upshot: nothing to manage. Plug in, walk away. The car won't draw power at peak rates unless you override it.

Because the intelligence lives in the car-to-Octopus link, the charger itself doesn't have to be smart. A basic tethered unit works as well as a premium one — which is why the Tesla Wall Connector at £478 is such a natural pairing.

Octopus Go — you set the timer

Octopus Go is simpler. Five-hour window, no API, no scheduling on Octopus's side. You handle the timing — usually through a smart charger like the Ohme Home Pro at £535, or through Tesla's own scheduled-charging in the car. Set it once and forget it. It does, however, require a charger or car that supports scheduling.

Compatibility

Intelligent Go needs a compatible EV because it relies on the vehicle API. Tesla models are fully supported, along with a growing list of others (the Octopus app keeps the latest). Any charger works on Intelligent Go — the charger is just delivering power.

Octopus Go works with any EV and any charger. There's no API integration to mismatch. If you already own a smart charger like the Ohme Home Pro, it can align charging sessions with your off-peak window and pull tariff rates from Octopus to show what each session costs. If you don't, the car probably handles scheduling fine.

Annual cost at 10,000 miles

For a Tesla Model 3 or Model Y at about 3.5 miles per kWh:

Intelligent Go saves around £43 a year for a 10,000-mile driver — useful, but not decisive. The material saving is the switch off a standard tariff: both Go options run a Tesla for around £200 a year against £800 on a flat 28p rate, or £1,200 on Superchargers. For the full picture, the UK EV Charging Cost Index breaks down per-mile costs across every UK tariff.

Which to pick

Intelligent Go is the default for any Tesla owner — lower rate, longer window, bonus slots, no scheduling to manage. The exceptions are narrow: an EV that isn't on the compatibility list, or a strong preference for setting your own schedule rather than handing it to an algorithm. In either case, Octopus Go is the like-for-like fallback at 8.5p/kWh — still among the cheapest ways to charge at home, and works with anything.

If you already own a smart charger and enjoy chasing rates, Octopus Agile is a third option worth a look — half-hourly pricing that can drop below 0p when renewable generation overshoots, and rewards active management. Best paired with solar.

The thing to actually optimise is being on a smart EV tariff at all. Whichever you pick, you'll save £500–600 a year against the standard variable rate.

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