EV power plans in NZ: which power company is best for charging?

Why the plan beats the hardware

Most home charging happens overnight, exactly when off-peak rates apply. An off-peak window is often around half the standard anytime rate, so moving a typical 2,000+ kWh of annual charging into it saves a few hundred dollars a year — on charging alone, before you’ve compared against petrol. Our running-cost calculator lets you set both an anytime and an off-peak rate so you can see the difference for your own driving.

What each major retailer offers for EV charging

Every major NZ retailer now runs something aimed at overnight charging, so the useful question isn’t which brand is best, it’s which shape fits how you actually charge. There are only three, and the table below is deliberately about structure rather than rates.

Why there are no cents-per-kWh figures here. Plan names, shapes and windows move slowly. Rates move constantly. A page quoting rates is wrong within months, so we publish the structure and send you to the retailer for the number. Confirm current pricing before you switch.

Now check the rates for your address

Picking the right shape above gets you most of the way. The last step is the part we can’t do for you: the actual cents per kWh differ by network and by meter configuration, so the same plan is not equally good at every address. Two households on the same street can land on different answers if one runs a heat pump all evening and the other doesn’t.

Powerswitch is New Zealand’s independent, Consumer NZ-backed comparison, and Billy, the Electricity Authority’s free independent tool (billy.govt.nz, launched 2026), is another neutral starting point. Roundups from Canstar and MoneyHub are handy for seeing which retailers currently run EV and night-rate plans. Either way, confirm the current rates and any EV-specific window with the retailer before you switch.

Which shape suits you

• You charge most nights. A dedicated night rate wins, because it covers the whole overnight window rather than a single block. Contact’s Good Charge and Meridian’s Night Saver both run 9pm to 7am.
• You charge once or twice a week. A free block can beat a night rate, because you can put a big chunk of a weekly top-up inside it. Contact’s Good Weekends covers 9am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.
• You’re happy with your current plan. An add-on like Mercury’s EV Fuel Package discounts the overnight window without changing your day rates, so the rest of the household isn’t affected by the switch.
• You want both. Electric Kiwi is the common plan that stacks a cheap overnight rate with a free Hour of Power you schedule yourself.

Two catches worth knowing before you switch

You need a communicating smart meter. Every EV and off-peak plan here requires one, because the retailer has to see when you used the power to bill the off-peak window differently. Most NZ homes already have one, and if yours doesn’t your retailer will usually install it at no charge. It’s worth sorting before your charger goes in, because without it none of these rates are available to you.

Some plans require you to actually own an EV. Mercury’s EV Fuel Package asks for proof you own or have a long-term lease on a plug-in vehicle. Meridian’s Night Saver doesn’t: it’s open to any eligible residential customer with a smart meter, EV or not. That matters if you’re installing a charger before the car arrives, which is common on a new build.

Large retailers now have to offer a time-of-use plan

Off-peak plans got easier to find in 2026. Under an Electricity Authority decision, retailers with 5% or more of the market must offer a time-of-use plan with a cheaper off-peak window. Those plans became available to most households from 1 July 2026, and full compliance is required by 30 October 2026 (Electricity Authority, verified August 2026). For EV owners that’s good news: a time-of-use plan is exactly what makes overnight charging cheap. It doesn’t happen automatically, though. You still need to choose a plan that suits your household and, ideally, schedule your charging into the off-peak window.

The practical upshot: if you last compared plans before mid-2026, your retailer may now offer an off-peak option it didn’t have then, and smaller retailers, who aren’t covered by the rule, may or may not. It’s worth re-checking rather than assuming your current plan is still the best one for charging.

What to look for in a plan

• A genuine off-peak window that lines up with overnight charging.
• A dedicated EV rate, where the retailer offers one — sometimes a very low overnight EV-only price.
• The trade-off on the day rate — some plans give a cheap night in exchange for a dearer day, so check it suits your whole household.
• No lock-in surprises — confirm any term or exit fees before switching.

To actually capture the off-peak rate without thinking about it, pair the plan with a smart charger (or your EV’s built-in scheduler) so charging starts automatically inside the cheap window.

Whichever plan you land on, pair it with a smart charger (or your EV’s built-in scheduler) so charging starts automatically inside the cheap window, and use our running-cost calculator to put a real dollar figure on the off-peak saving for your driving.