ScottishPower EV Tariffs: A Complete 2026 Guide

If you're an electric vehicle owner looking to cut your charging costs, ScottishPower's EV-focused tariffs are worth a close look. As one of the UK's "big six" energy suppliers, ScottishPower has developed two distinct products for EV drivers: the EV Saver tariff, a traditional time-of-use plan with a cheap overnight window, and EV Optimise, a newer smart-charging add-on that takes a more flexible, app-driven approach. This guide explains how each works, what they cost, who they're suited to, and how to decide between them.

1. EV Saver: ScottishPower's overnight tariff

The EV Saver tariff is a classic two-rate, time-of-use plan built around a cheap overnight window for charging your car at home.

How it works: Electricity is split into an off-peak rate and a standard daytime rate. The off-peak night rate runs from midnight to 5am at around 8.5 to 9.5p per kWh, while the standard daytime rate sits at roughly 24.67p per kWh, the same as ScottishPower's Standard Variable Tariff.

The savings in practice: Charging a typical 60kWh EV battery at the standard rate of 24.67p costs around £14.80 per full charge, but at the EV Saver overnight rate of 8.5p that same charge costs roughly £5.10 — a saving of nearly £10 per charge. For a household covering 700 miles a month, that adds up to over £100 a year in charging savings alone.

Eligibility and equipment: You'll need a smart meter capable of transmitting half-hourly readings, with ScottishPower paying out based on those readings. The good news for anyone who's already invested in home charging equipment is that the tariff works with any brand of EV charger — untethered or tethered — so you don't need a specific ScottishPower-branded charger to benefit. ScottishPower suggests the tariff could save customers hundreds of pounds a year compared with staying on a standard variable tariff, and it's a straightforward option for drivers happy to coordinate their charging around a fixed overnight slot.

Green credentials: ScottishPower matches 100% of the electricity consumed on this tariff with Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates sourced from the ScottishPower Group's own renewable generation.

A note on contract terms: Like most fixed-term energy products, EV Saver is periodically refreshed with new versions (you may see references to "EV Saver Apr 2026" or "EV Saver Jan 2026 v2" in ScottishPower's published terms). Each version has its own end date, after which the tariff is withdrawn from sale, though existing customers typically continue on their agreed terms until that point. Always check the version currently on offer and its specific end date before signing up.

Clock changes: One quirk worth flagging — the off-peak timings are based on Greenwich Mean Time, but on selected older SMETS1 smart meters the time periods shift during British Summer Time, which runs from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. If you're on an older meter, it's worth checking whether your off-peak window has moved when the clocks change.

2. EV Optimise: smart, app-controlled charging

EV Optimise takes a different approach. Rather than restricting cheap charging to a fixed overnight window, it uses ScottishPower's app to control exactly when your car charges, based on when electricity is cheapest and greenest.

How it works: You connect your car (and sometimes your charger) to ScottishPower's smart charging platform via the app, then set your preferences — how much charge you need and what time you need to be ready by. With your permission, ScottishPower reads data from your car, such as charge state and location, and uses its remote access capabilities to start and stop charging automatically when it's plugged in at home. To set up a session, you simply enter your ready-by time and charge target in the app, and ScottishPower schedules the charging for you.

Pricing — and a bit of a moving target: ScottishPower's rate for EV Optimise has varied across different versions of the product and promotional periods, so it's worth checking the current published rate carefully:

• One version of ScottishPower's marketing states a flat rate of 10p per kWh for any charging completed within a smart charging session, with no restriction on when you charge as long as smart charging is enabled, your preferences are set, and your EV is plugged in at home.
• Another current promotion advertises a rate of 8p per kWh within a smart charging session, with potential savings of up to £310 a year on charging costs.
• There's also a hardware-linked deal: customers who purchase an Easee One home charger from ScottishPower and add EV Optimise can unlock an exclusive rate of 6p per kWh for a year, with a 60kWh EV charged weekly from 20% to 80% potentially seeing costs fall from £518.44 to £112.32 against the standard cap-based price — a saving of around 78%.

Given this variation, treat any specific pence-per-kWh figure as indicative, and check the live rate for your account in the ScottishPower app before relying on it for your own calculations.

Eligibility: EV Optimise is available as an add-on to your existing ScottishPower tariff, excluding the EV Saver, Heat Saver and Solar Saver time-of-use tariffs. You'll need a communicating smart meter — if you don't have one, you can book a free installation, and if yours isn't communicating properly, ScottishPower's support team can help. You'll also need a single-rate meter, which rules out two-rate setups such as Economy 7. EV Optimise only works when you charge at home, and it's exclusively available to ScottishPower customers — if you're with another supplier, you'd need to switch first and then add it once you're on supply.

Cost: EV Optimise can be added to an eligible ScottishPower tariff free of charge.

Tracking your savings: You can track savings through the ScottishPower app, and your bill will include a line item showing the total savings accumulated from smart charging sessions during each billing period. Separately, ScottishPower has described the arrangement as customers receiving a monthly credit to their bill in exchange for allowing the company to manage charging during low-demand periods.

What to expect day-to-day: When your car is plugged in at home and its battery is below your set charge target, a new smart charging session starts automatically — though this can take up to 20 minutes, and occasionally longer depending on your car's make. You'll get notifications when a session starts and finishes, and the dashboard shows statuses like "Charging" or "Waiting for next green slot to continue charging." Once a session ends, you can see a breakdown of energy delivered, cost and savings. One important housekeeping point: make sure smart charging schedules are disabled in any other apps, such as your car manufacturer's app or third-party services, as conflicting schedules can stop EV Optimise from working properly.

It's also worth noting that EV Optimise has been run as a beta product, so occasional issues may arise, though ScottishPower's support team is available via the app's Help feature, and the company says it welcomes feedback to help improve the service.

3. EV Saver vs EV Optimise: which should you choose?

EV Saver suits drivers who prefer stable, fixed savings and don't mind coordinating their charging around a set off-peak slot, while EV Optimise is designed for drivers who can't always plug in right at midnight, since the system handles scheduling for you. If you're home overnight and able to charge during off-peak hours, EV Saver can offer lower rates and help cut your charging costs, with potential savings of up to £435 a year against fuelling a petrol car alongside 100% green electricity.

4. Wider ScottishPower context

Beyond its EV-specific products, it's worth knowing how ScottishPower's broader tariff book looks, since EV Optimise sits on top of whichever standard tariff you're on. ScottishPower also offers a Cap Tracker tariff, which tracks the Ofgem price cap and, as of April 2026, was £7.50 cheaper per fuel per year than the company's Standard Variable Tariff, with no exit fees. ScottishPower also offers fixed-rate tariffs locking in unit rates until April to May 2027, including 100% renewable electricity, though these typically carry a £50 per-fuel exit fee if you leave before the end of the contract. For context on the wider market, the Ofgem price cap for April to June 2026 was set at £1,641 a year for a typical dual-fuel household paying by Direct Debit — though this caps the unit rate and standing charge, not your total bill, so higher usage still means a higher cost.

If you want to check your current rates, your unit rate and standing charge appear as a line item on your most recent bill, or you can log into your online account and navigate to Tariff Information, or visit ScottishPower's tariff information labels page for region-specific rates.

ScottishPower's EV offering also extends beyond domestic customers. For business customers, the company offers fully funded charging point installations, with a range of charging speeds available, plus installation, maintenance and a software management platform — all aimed at helping businesses manage EV charging costs while improving footfall and branding opportunities.

5. How to get started

1. Check your meter setup. Both EV Saver and EV Optimise require a smart meter with half-hourly, communicating functionality. If you don't have one, ScottishPower can arrange a free installation.
2. Decide on fixed vs flexible. If your routine means you can reliably plug in overnight, EV Saver's predictable off-peak window may suit you best — and it has the advantage of cutting costs on other household appliances run during that window too. If your charging habits are less predictable, EV Optimise's app-driven scheduling may work better.
3. Check compatibility for EV Optimise. If your car doesn't have all the capabilities ScottishPower needs for smart charging, you may be prompted to link your home charger as well — and it's worth doing this even when it's not strictly required, as it gives the platform more to work with.
4. Take the eligibility survey. ScottishPower offers a short eligibility survey to confirm you meet the requirements for EV Optimise before you sign up.
5. Set your preferences and monitor. Once connected, set your ready-by time and charge target in the app, enable notifications, and keep an eye on your savings via the dashboard and your bill.

6. Final thoughts

ScottishPower's EV tariff lineup gives drivers two genuinely different ways to cut charging costs: a straightforward overnight discount with EV Saver, or a flexible, app-managed smart charging add-on with EV Optimise. Both come with 100% renewable electricity credentials, and neither locks you into specific charger hardware (though EV Optimise has its best-value promotional rates tied to certain partnerships, such as the Easee charger deal). As with any energy product, rates and promotional offers change fairly often, so it's worth checking ScottishPower's current published terms — and comparing against the wider market — before you commit.