Company electric car: check charging expenses before switching to Octopus

A cheap home-charging rate is only part of the decision when your employer helps pay for a company EV. Before switching, find out how charging is reimbursed, what evidence your employer accepts and which electricity costs you will still pay yourself.

The energy tariff, your employer's expenses policy and any car-lease charging offer are separate arrangements. A tariff can suit the car while being less attractive for the rest of the household. Equally, a reimbursement service with Octopus in its name does not necessarily require you to move your home electricity to Octopus.

Start with how your employer pays

Ask your fleet or payroll team which arrangement applies to you:

• A payment for business miles, using an agreed mileage rate.
• Reimbursement of eligible charging costs, supported by records.
• An employer-arranged service that credits eligible home charging to your energy account.

Confirm which journeys or charging sessions qualify, how home and public charging are treated and what happens when your tariff changes. Do not assume that a salary-sacrifice car automatically includes payment for every charge.

HMRC's advisory fuel rates guidance distinguishes company-car mileage payments from other arrangements and has separate home and public advisory electric rates for fully electric company cars. These rates are reviewed quarterly. They are not a household electricity tariff or a promise about what your employer will pay.

A privately owned car used for work is a different case. HMRC's electric-car guidance separates company cars from employees' own cars. Ask payroll about your circumstances rather than applying company-car rules to a car allowance or personal vehicle. This guide does not calculate your tax or expenses entitlement.

Compare the household bill and the reimbursement separately

First compare the electricity bill before reimbursements: the car's home-charging use, the home's other electricity, the day and night rates and the standing charge. Then compare the costs that remain yours after the employer's agreed payments.

If eligible charging is reimbursed at its actual cost, making that charging cheaper does not necessarily give you the same personal saving as it would if you paid for it all yourself. If payment is based on business mileage, do not assume it automatically rises or falls with your electricity rate. Confirm the policy rather than counting an assumed surplus.

Include private charging you pay for, public charging outside the employer's arrangement, exit fees and any extra equipment or service costs you would personally bear. Keep a one-off lease benefit separate from recurring reimbursement. Do not subtract the same credit twice.

Our low-mileage EV tariff guide explains why the cheap car rate alone does not settle whole-home tariff value. The EV calculator can help compare electricity costs, but it does not model your employer's expenses policy or calculate tax. Use its result before reimbursements, not as your final personal net cost.

Check the charging records before changing tariff

Ask payroll what it needs: business mileage, receipts, charging-session kWh, the vehicle used, the applicable electricity rate or a report from its chosen service. A record that helps explain charging is not automatically an approved expense claim.

For example, Ohme says its Intelligent Go costs are estimates. They can differ from the amount billed by the energy supplier. Ohme does not issue your electricity bill; Octopus does. Agree how any difference will be handled rather than treating an app total as the final charge.

If a household shares a charger, check that the correct vehicle is selected. Ohme's multicar instructions warn that usage history records the selected vehicle, including an incorrect selection. Keep company and personal charging distinguishable. Our two-EV guide covers the separate tariff-integration checks; a saved app profile is not another approved Octopus connection.

Octopus Fleet does not mean you must switch your home supply

Octopus Fleet's home reimbursement service advertises support across energy providers, subject to a compatible setup. Drivers identify business charging sessions and the service credits the home energy account monthly through the employer's fleet arrangement.

That is a reimbursement service, not Intelligent Octopus Go. Ask your employer whether it uses the service and confirm compatibility for the car, charger and energy provider. Do not switch home supplier solely because the reimbursement service carries the Octopus name, or assume that choosing a home tariff enrols you in your employer's scheme.

If a reimbursement platform also wants to control charging or enrol your home in flexibility services, check the exact arrangement with both providers before connecting it. A reporting function and a charging-control service are not interchangeable. Intelligent Go has its own control and demand-response conditions; compatibility with reimbursement alone does not settle those conditions.

Keep lease charging offers separate

If your car comes through Octopus Electric Vehicles, use the charging terms for your actual agreement. Its salary-sacrifice charging terms distinguish a charger contribution, public charging credit and home charging credit. Starting, renewing and extending a lease have separate linked terms, and older agreements can have different offers.

The home-credit option has energy-account, address, vehicle-delivery and eligible-tariff conditions. It is distributed over the lease rather than being an unlimited charging allowance available on day one. Public charging credit is a different offer. Confirm your selected option, instalments and what happens if the agreement ends early.

These lease benefits are not the same as employer reimbursement or a home-energy switching reward. Do not assume offers can be combined; confirm the applicable terms before counting any benefit in the decision.

Before starting the energy switch

Check the exact car and charger with Octopus, including any employer or lease-provider restrictions on app access and charging control. Intelligent Go requires the vehicle to charge primarily at the supplied home, a supported connection and the necessary smart-meter readings. Ordering a company car or having a charger installed does not itself activate the tariff.

Use the Intelligent Go joining checklist for the supplier and setup steps. Compare a current postcode quote with your existing tariff, including the home's non-EV use and exit conditions. Confirm your employer's reimbursement arrangement will still work after the change.

Keep Intelligent Go's fixed 23:30–05:30 household window separate from its EV smart-charging allowance. Do not assume an extra EV slot discounts other household use: confirm the treatment of your tariff with Octopus before shifting appliances or battery charging, then check the bill.

The right outcome is a tariff that works for the household and an expenses process your employer has agreed, not simply the lowest advertised charging rate.