SSE launches 'Powerfuel' - bespoke energy product for electric cars

SSE has today launched ‘Powerfuel’, a new product designed exclusively for customers who own an electric car.

Powerfuel, which is available from today, offers cheap rate electricity overnight for charging a vehicle at home, and normal domestic rates during the day– a key difference to other off peak tariffs which normally charge a higher daytime rate. Under Powerfuel, electric vehicles could be run for as little as 1.8 pence per mile1.

Powerfuel has been designed exclusively to cater for the growing number of people interested in buying an electric car. Forecasts show that by the end of this year 3,000 electric cars will be on the road and by the end of the decade, this will have risen to 10,000. Many of the major car makers including Vauxhall, Ford, Renault, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes and Toyota will soon have plug in cars on the market.

SSE, the UK’s leading generator of renewable energy, has been actively involved in MINI and Ford electric vehicle (EV) trials across the UK over the last two years, and Powerfuel’s design takes on board the key research findings from participating motorists.

David Franklin, MD of Energy Portfolio Management for SSE, said: “These trials have shown that pure electric vehicles are becoming a practical alternative to conventional cars for everyday use. Customers want the ease of being able to charge their cars at home overnight, whilst still benefitting from normal, non-premium daytime energy to run their household appliances. Powerfuel offers that and is available for customers to sign up to immediately. Our Home Services team can also install home charging units for motorists, so now we can offer the full SSE electric vehicle charging package.”

He added: “Another benefit of Powerfuel is there is spare capacity on the network at night and the carbon intensity of the electricity generation is about 25 per cent lower than at other times.”

SSE announced the new Powerfuel product at today’s launch of the new POLAR* public EV charging network and membership scheme. By the end of next year, POLAR aims to have 4,000 charging bays in over 100 towns and cities across the UK. As a key partner in POLAR, SSE will be installing many of the public charging points, as well as the home charging units on offer as part of the initiative.

Last week SSE also announced its involvement in the roll-out of public charging points at Little Chef restaurants. In conjunction with Chargemaster, the company behind the POLAR scheme, SSE will be installing 126 charging points in 62 Little Chef car parks by the spring of 2012, with the aim of equipping every Little Chef with a public EV charging point by the end of 2012.

1. Assuming an average electricity consumption of 4 miles per kWh.