Origin Energy is preparing a new energy plan to capture electric vehicle owners, specifically Tesla owners in Australia.
What they describe as a game-changer in EV charging, the new plan is coming to Origin in 2024.
With Origin EV Power Up, Australians will be able to schedule EV charging via the Origin mobile app. This is exclusively available to those with Tesla’s in the garage, where you will need to link your car to the Origin app. This suggests Origin may be leveraging Tesla’s official API to access the car to start/stop charging sessions.
Charging under the plan will be offered at a low 8c/kWh rate, compared to a regular cost of between 20-35c/kW. The big win here is that because Origin can identify how much energy your car can consume, they can offer this cheap rate, any time of the day regardless of what energy plan you’re on.
Currently, I take advantage of a limited-time plan from Origin that allows free charging between 10 am and 3 pm daily. This plan was pitched at EV owners, but given they had no capacity to identify what was consuming power, all power at home is free during this time. This plan will end for me and others who managed to get it, on April 25th, 2024 making this new offer from Origin very inviting.
The Origin EV Power Up waitlist is now open and the opportunity to trial the product will be available to the first 200 Tesla EV owners when we launch in early 2024. Charge in and secure your place in our trial today.
Personally, we have 2x Teslas in the garage, so I hope they accommodate households like ours that own 2x Teslas. having the ability to charge cars at any time, from any state of charge to full, for just $5 will easily be the cheapest technique to charge our cars.
I suggest, if you have a Tesla and are interested, be fast.
Sign up here – https://www.originenergy.com.au/origin-loop/electric-vehicle-charging/ev-power-up/waitlist-registration
Update
I can share some additional information from Origin around how the plan works.
What is the eligibility criteria for Origin EV Power Up?
- You must have a residential Origin electricity account (any energy plan is eligible).
- You must have a Tesla EV that Origin can connect to via our app to join the trial. This will require consenting to Origin accessing your Tesla account.
- You, or other occupants residing at the residential address, must not require life support equipment or otherwise rely on electricity for critical needs.
- Your EV charger must not be connected to a controlled load system.
How much does it cost?
- There are no costs to access the scheduled charging functionality in the Origin app.
- For a completed scheduled charge session while using Origin EV Power Up, you will only be charged an 8c/kWh rate for electricity.
- Without the Origin EV Power Up scheduled charging activated you will continue to pay the rate as per your standard electricity rate.
How long will it take to charge my EV?
- Your EV will charge at the same speed as per normal when using Origin EV Power Up.
- Your actual charging speeds are subject to variables that include hardware and temperature and will depend on your EV and charger type.
- Some examples of charging speeds can be found here: Electric vehicle chargers – Origin 360 EV (originenergy.com.au)
I live in an apartment, can I still sign up to Origin EV Power Up?
- You will need to make sure you have a suitable power source to charge your EV that is also linked to your Origin electricity account.
- You will not be able to access the 8c/kWh rate unless the charging occurs from your residential electricity account.
- You will not be able to access the 8c/kWh rate for charging from a shared charger or shared power source.
Important information
Access to the Origin EV Power Up rate requires a residential Origin Energy electricity plan and is limited to Tesla vehicles for the trial. Other EV manufacturers will also be supported in 2024 once the trial concludes.#Origin EV Power Up usage charges
Usage charges will initially be charged in accordance with your energy plan, we’ll then apply a monthly credit to your bill based on the amount of electricity used in the previous month to charge your EV with Origin EV Power Up. The credit applied will mean you’ll only be charged 8c/kWh for any scheduled EV charging through Origin EV Power Up.*$5 EV full charge estimate
Based on a continuous electricity charge rate of 8c/kWh powering a Tesla Model Y with a useable 57.5 kWh battery. The estimated cost is $4.60 to charge a Tesla Model Y (RWD) from zero charge to full capacity with Origin EV Power Up.
