Therefore, the electric car cannot be charged from the night electricity.
Mar 1, 2024
A sajtó félreértéséből fakadóan a mai napig gyakori az a tévhit, hogy a villanyautókat lehet éjszakai - azaz B tarifás - áramról tölteni. A valóságban azonban ez nem lehetséges, és most összeszedtük, miért.
In 2016, green number plates were introduced in Hungary, and at that time, many press articles reported that electric cars could now be charged using night electricity. The first such article talks about the A2 tariff and often uses the term “night” electricity. While there is no official terminology for “night” electricity, this common term is usually associated with the B tariff, not the A2 tariff, which is indeed suitable for charging electric cars.
So what is the B tariff?
The official name for “night” electricity is controlled electricity, and it is not available to households 24 hours a day. According to Hungarian laws, it must be available for a minimum of 8 hours a day during the winter period and at least 7 hours during the summer period. It can be more at any time, but not less. Since the provider controls whether there is electricity in the household at any given moment, it is called controlled electricity.
In the electrical network, production and consumption must be in balance because if one side is skewed, it can lead to malfunctions in electrical devices (or even network collapse). So, if consumption decreases, production must also decrease, and if it increases, production must follow as quickly as possible. Since it would be extremely costly to constantly switch power plants on and off depending on consumption, surplus is generated in the network during low consumption periods. Most people sleep at night, while power plants continue to produce, so surplus generally accumulates in the network at night, which is where the common name comes from. It should also be noted that with the spread of solar panels, unused electricity can increasingly occur in the early afternoon.
Since electricity is not constantly available, it can be used to operate devices that have good heat storage or energy storage capabilities. For example, an electric boiler, since it does not matter whether the network heats the water using “night” electricity at 2 AM or in the morning using the normal network for a morning shower.
The controlled network can only fulfill its purpose if the consumer's device actually switches on during excess electricity and turns off when this condition ceases. Thus, the network can only operate with continuously connected consumers; it will not function properly with devices that can be switched off or unplugged.
What is the situation with the confusing A2 tariff?
The A1 and A2 tariffs provide a continuous source of electricity. Since most residential users utilize the A1 tariff, they may not necessarily be aware that the A2 tariff also exists. Although both are available 24 hours a day, there is some difference in their pricing.
While the A1 continuously offers 1 kWh of electricity at the same price, the pricing for the A2 tariff varies between peak hours and periods of reduced consumer demand. In this case, peak hours refer to daytime hours, while the reduced consumption (so-called valley time) refers to nighttime hours; hence the misunderstanding that the A2 and "night" electricity are the same thing. In a sense, this could also be called night, but not because it is only available to consumers then, rather because it is financially more beneficial to use it at that time. The daytime price is usually more expensive than that of the A1 network. However, not only can you, but it also pays to charge your electric car during A2 tariff hours at night because it will likely be cheaper than the A1 tariff electricity price.
So what is the best solution?
It makes sense that if most of the consumption occurs during the day, it is worth choosing the A1 tariff as it will be financially advantageous for the consumer. Since 2016, electric car drivers do not have to choose between the A1 and A2 tariffs (like most users) but can use both in parallel. So if the car is generally charged at night, the household consumers can remain on A1 electricity, while the device used for charging the electric car can utilize A2 electricity at night, meaning it can be connected to the meter measuring the A2 tariff. In this case, a separate meter measuring A2 consumption must be installed, for example, in the garage.
Of course, the few forints discount per kWh still may not necessarily make the installation of a separate meter attractive for households with electric cars, especially since there is relatively a lot of paperwork involved in this case and it must be confirmed every year that we are maintaining an electric car.
