E.ON Next Drive: is it worth it?

A whole host of energy suppliers are now offering low off-peak rates to attract electric vehicle drivers – but some of them don’t require you to have an EV.

E.ON Next Drive is one of the best examples of this trend, since its seven daily hours of cheap electricity are also available to households with a storage battery.

In this guide, we’ll explain how E.ON Next Drive works, which homes are eligible, how much you can save, and whether it’s ultimately worth it.

If you’re wondering how much you could save with a solar & battery system, enter a few details below and we’ll generate a quick estimate.

What is E.ON Next Drive?

E.ON Next Drive is a time of use import tariff that any home can access, whether or not its inhabitants have an electric vehicle.

From 12am to 7am every day, you can charge or power anything in your home for just 6.7p per kilowatt-hour (kWh), wherever you are in the country.

At any other time, you’ll pay around 27.02p per kWh. This is slightly below the April 2025 price cap, though the exact price will differ depending on your household’s location.

If you move a large amount of your consumption to the tariff’s off-peak period – or use the cheap electricity to charge your storage battery – you can save hundreds of pounds per year.

And if you do have an electric car, you can massively cut your bills by charging it during this period. 

E.ON Next Drive is one of a new generation of innovative import tariffs, created to meet the increasing demand for electric cars and storage batteries across the UK.

Before this wave of new options, the best way to save money with import tariffs was either to get on an Economy 7 rate or shop around for the best fixed tariff.

The current edition of this tariff is E.ON Next Drive Fixed V6, which is the sixth different version, and the third in a row with a 6.7p per kWh off-peak rate – the lowest on the market.

As it’s an import tariff, households with solar panels should combine it with an export tariff to make the most of their system – more on that below.

How does it work?

Households with either an electric car or storage battery can sign up to E.ON Next Drive, meaning solar homes can take advantage without having an EV.

During the off-peak period from 12am to 7am, any electricity you use at home will cost 6.7p per kWh. The rest of the time, you’ll pay the peak rate.

All your usage will be tracked by your smart meter, which is how E.ON is able to accurately charge you.

You can take full advantage of the tariff by scheduling your EV or battery to charge during the off-peak period.

Most drivers will be able to do this through the E.ON Next Home app’s Car Connect feature, but some will need to download a separate app made by their EV’s manufacturer.

Either way, you should be able to decide when your car will start and finish charging, and how charged you want its battery to be.

For those who have a storage battery, you should be able to use your battery’s app to set its charging times.

Any electricity you use outside of the seven-hour off-peak period will be charged at the peak rate.

100% renewable electricity?

The electricity provided to your home will come from the grid, meaning it’ll be 51% renewable, on average – but E.ON has said that on Next Drive, “you’re using 100% renewable electricity.”

E.ON bridges the gap between these two statements by purchasing Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certificates.

These certificates are part of a scheme administered by Ofgem which allows suppliers to buy electricity from renewable sources. Each one equates to a megawatt hour (MWh).

E.ON buys a REGO each time its customers collectively use a MWh of grid electricity, to offset the emissions they’ve caused.

In E.ON’s own words, this means “for every single watt of power an E.ON Next fixed tariff customer takes out of the grid, an equal amount has been put in from renewable sources.”

Eligibility requirements for E.ON Next Drive

To qualify for E.ON Next Drive, you need to have a smart meter and pay for your electricity by monthly direct debit.

You also need to have either an electric vehicle or a storage battery.

You don’t need to own any particular brand of EV charger to join the tariff – as long as you’re able to charge your car at home, you can sign up.

If you don’t have a smart meter yet, your energy supplier is legally obliged to install one for free if you request it.

E.ON Next Drive rates

How much can you save with E.ON Next Drive?

You can save hundreds of pounds per year with E.ON Next Drive.

All you need to do is make the most of the tariff by shifting as much of your consumption to the off-peak period as possible.

Let’s run through how you can maximise your savings in a couple of different scenarios.

With an EV

The average electric vehicle uses 2,118kWh of electricity per year, which is enough charge for it to keep going for 7,000 miles – the average distance a UK driver covers.

On the April 2025 price cap, this much electricity would cost £572 if you charged your EV at home.

However, if you exclusively charge your car on E.ON Next Drive’s off-peak rate, you’ll spend just £142 per year – which is a £430 saving.

And unless you drive hundreds of miles every day, charging on just this cheaper rate should be fully achievable.

Homes with a standard 7kW EV charger – confusingly known as a ‘fast’ charger – can draw 49kWh of charge from the grid in E.ON Next Drive’s seven off-peak hours.

This is enough to charge 69% of the average EV’s battery, which has a usable capacity of 70.8kWh – and that should power your car for 162 miles before it needs to recharge.

That means the average driver won’t have to charge their EV every day. In fact, once per week should be more than sufficient.

And if you need a full battery for a long journey, just schedule your EV to charge up two nights in a row.

If you don’t have a charger and you plan to simply plug into a standard three-pin socket, you’ll charge about three times as slowly, and need to use E.ON Next Drive’s off-peak rate around 2.5 times per week.

You can also add to your savings by scheduling your high-usage products, like your washing machine, to run during the off-peak period.

With a storage battery

Of course, you don’t need an EV to qualify for this tariff – instead, you can use a storage battery to benefit.

If you have a solar & battery system, you could save £751 per year on E.ON Next Drive, compared to a home on the April 2025 price cap that has no solar installation.

Just set your battery to charge up during the off-peak period every night, then use that low-cost electricity to run your household.

Whether you have a 5.2kWh or 10kWh battery, you’ll easily be able to fully charge it in this seven-hour window.

A 10kWh battery will then be able to power the average household’s electricity consumption for the rest of the day, but a 5.2kWh model almost certainly won’t be.

That’s where your solar panels come in – and with a standard 4.4kWp system, you should still have plenty of excess solar electricity left over, especially in summer.

This will enable you to earn a further £361 by selling your extra solar electricity to the grid through E.ON Next Export Exclusive. It pays you 16.5p per kWh, making it one of the best solar export tariffs around.

When you combine these savings and earnings, you could make £1,112 per year on these E.ON import and export tariffs.

All of these calculations are based on a home with an annual consumption of 3,400kWh – which is the UK average – and solar irradiance of 850kWh per kWp.

If you’re wondering how much you could save with a solar & battery system, enter a few details below and we’ll generate a quick estimate.

How can you sign up for E.ON Next Drive?

You can start the sign-up process for E.ON Next Drive by getting a quote online.

Then as long as you have a smart meter and EV or storage battery, you just have to provide your basic details – like your home address, how long you’ve lived there, and your phone number – and set up your direct debit.

Pick your tariff start date, accept the terms and conditions, and you’ll be good to go.

E.ON will then start the process of connecting to your smart meter. During this time, you’ll be moved onto Next Flex, which is the supplier’s standard variable import tariff.

How long does it take?

If you already import your electricity from E.ON, the switch should take up to five days, since that’s how long the supplier usually takes to connect to your smart meter.

It’ll take a bit longer if you’re moving from a different energy provider, but the companies involved should still complete the switch in three weeks at most.

This time limit is due to the Energy Switch Guarantee, which is a list of standards created by trade body Energy UK that all major suppliers have signed up to follow.

Is E.ON Next Drive worth it?

E.ON Next Drive is definitely worth it.

At seven hours, it’s the longest overnight off-peak rate on the market, which gives you loads of time to charge your EV or battery, run your dishwasher, and put on a load of laundry.

Its 6.7p per kWh rate is also very appealing when compared to the alternatives.

There are several other EV tariffs with low off-peak rates that you don’t need an EV to qualify for, including British Gas Electric Driver (7.9p per kWh), Good Energy EV Charge (8p per kWh), and Ecotricity Fixed EV (8p per kWh).

None of them are as low as E.ON’s, though, and none of them last as long.

E.ON Next Drive is also slightly better than Intelligent Octopus Go, which comes with a 7p per kWh rate for six hours, though Octopus’s tariff does occasionally allow you to use the off-peak rate at other times.

It’s the best option on the market for EV drivers and solar & battery system owners. Whether you have one or both of these products, you can save hundreds of pounds per year – and all you need to do is change your import tariff.

If you’re wondering how much you could save with a solar & battery system, enter a few details below and we’ll generate a quick estimate.

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