Customer Stories: How Rees Made the EV Leap with Smart Home Charge

When Rees Gates decided to replace his petrol car, he took the leap into the world of electric vehicles, and hasn’t looked back.

From choosing the sleek Renault Megane E-Tech to installing an Ohme ePod with help from Smart Home Charge, Rees shares how easy and cost-effective the switch to EV life can be. With lower running costs, a smooth installation process, and reliable home charging, his journey proves that going electric doesn’t have to be complicated, just smart.

Why did you choose the Renault Megane E-Tech?

I was due to replace my petrol Nissan Juke and so it felt like the right time to make the switch to an EV.

I’ve felt like switching to an EV for a long time for sustainability reasons and the reduced maintenance cost was an appeal too.

I had been waiting for a scheme through work to facilitate my move to an EV, but I was waiting for so long that I actually just decided to lease one myself instead.

My wife was changing her Renault at the same time I was looking for a new car. We were at the dealership and I happened to look at the Megane E-Tech at the same time and really liked it.

What made you get a home charger installed?

We had already decided that if we were going to switch to an electric car that we would get the home charger installed, just for the convenience and running costs. It makes sense.

Did you initially find the world of EV charging at home confusing?

I was a little bit worried about where the charger would be placed on the house and how much it might stick out.

I’d done a lot of research beforehand just to understand the options available.

I’m a technical person anyway, so I didn’t really have any fears about the EV technology, but I did worry a little bit about having to charge it out on the public network and what that would be like, even though the majority of the time we’re charging at home.

I didn’t want to look like an idiot using a rapid charger! I have done it a few times now and it was all fine.

It put my mind at ease even more about EV ownership more generally just to know that I would be charging at home and that’s all sorted, but even on the occasion I do a longer trip, it’s actually fine too.

How did you find Smart Home Charge?

It was a good old Google search.

Not only did they come at the top of the results in the search, which is usually a good sign, a colleague at work had already used them, so I had a recommendation to go along with that too.

They had a great experience and the cost was reasonable.

I looked at a few other options, but the experience my colleague had convinced me to go with Smart Home Charge.

How was your experience when browsing our website?

I compared different chargers online and using the website and narrowing down my choice was really easy.

I already had a bit of an idea of what I was looking for, just in terms of something a bit smaller and inconspicuous.

The Ohme ePod fit the bill for what we wanted.

How did you get on with the online site survey?

I took pictures and a video.

Our electrical board is behind a food cupboard so I pulled all the food out and was wondering if it might be a bit difficult to run the cabling through.

There wasn’t a problem though. I didn’t think it would be straightforward, but it was only two metres from the board to the front of the house.

Have you switched to an EV specific tariff?

We changed from EDF Energy to Octopus for the Intelligent Octopus Go 7.5p per kWh rate between 11.30pm and 5.30am.

I asked for some advice from Ohme just how to make sure I was set-up correctly for the Intelligent tariff and then it all worked from that point onwards.

What kind of trips are you doing and what have the running costs been like for your EV?

I commute to work most days and that’s around 15 miles for a return trip.

I’ve done a few longer journeys of around 300 miles or so. I laugh at how cheap it is to charge the car at home.

I was filling up £60 of petrol for a full tank before and now a full charge for the Renault is about £4.20.

How would you rate your installer?

The installer was great. He had a quick look at the job and then explained what he needed to do and how long it was likely to take.

It was a seamless installation and he hoovered up after himself, so it was all tidy at the end.

Did the installer go the extra mile?

We plugged in the Megane and went through the buttons on the charger and the app.

He explained the app in detail and so it looked easy to use.

We did a test charge and we were ready to go.

What would you say to someone who is considering Smart Home Charge?

I’d give them 5 out of 5.

The whole process was very good and I also got £30 worth of Octopus Energy Electroverse credit, which was a nice added bonus!