Ohme, oh my... a new way of smart charging has come to town!

As a self-confessed electric vehicle devotee, I find myself now just as excitable about a new smart charger that I've been beta testing on the QT since February. Imagine my relief when the Ohme intelligent charging cable (smart charger) launched to the world on Friday, 29 March 2019. At last I can talk about it!

The Ohme intelligent charging cable in action

The smart functionality all happens in the cable itself, meaning that it is fully portable, which differentiates it from other smart chargers on the market. Ohme has partnered with Octopus Energy, so that the Ohme app syncs with Agile Octopus, the UK's first dynamic time-of-use tariff. This means that I can opt to automatically charge my car when it's greenest to do so - or indeed when it is cheapest; or, I can choose to optimise my car's battery life through the app.

The thing I love best about the Ohme smart charger is its ease of use. I schedule my car to charge to 80% on weekdays, and 100% at weekends. I simply plug in every time I get home, regardless of state of charge, and let Ohme work its magic. Or, as Daniel Hollingworth, UK Manager at Ohme, told EV News Daily, "Ohme wakes up and hoses the car down with energy."

I also love that I charge for around just 2p per electric mile when it's windy. And I know that others who have been testing the Ohme intelligent cable have charged for just 1.4p per mile on a blustery night. That's pretty remarkable - and remarkably cheap.

The 'smart' happens in this box on the intelligent cable

Benefits of the Ohme intelligent cable include:

• Ohme can be used with any electric vehicle

• It can be used with any existing charge socket, so doesn’t require an installer visit, and can be used on public charge points - not just at home

• It can even be used with a standard UK 3-pin socket or an inexpensive commando socket (which can charge as fast as a typical home charger)

• It manages EV drivers’ energy usage and sets charging preferences like daily commutes and weekend trips, and receives a summary of drivers’ cost per mile

• It monitors users’ Green Score, calculating the C02 consumption per mile and comparing it with a diesel or petrol vehicle - allowing management of the environmental impact

My Nissan LEAF being hosed down with energy, courtesy of the Ohme intelligent cable

Something else to look forward to... the Ohme website is coming soon. I'll update this blog when it lands. Can't wait!

p.s. The Ohme intelligent cable (smart charger) will cost £399, but the first 1,000 Octopus Energy customers get a special launch price of £199.