Octopus, Brian Cox and retrofit – a magic combo

I viewed my invite to the Octopus Tech Conference somewhat dubiously. I expected a small event with loads of techies, a number of in-depth, slightly tedious talks about the future of energy and plenty of chats with interesting people in the breaks.

Boy, was I wrong!

I’ve no idea how they managed it, but I was rapt from 9.30 am to 5 pm. No talk went longer than 15 minutes. Speakers did a great job of making their subjects interesting and it all just romped along.

My favourite bit was of course the session on retrofit talking about all the offerings now available from octopus. I love that they will guarantee homeowners who buy into their zero carbon homes standards 10 years with no energy bills. How amazing is that? Never mind that you’re living in a highly energy efficient home in perpetuity.

The big reveal

Of course no tech conference could hold up its head unless there was a big reveal.

They began with Damon Hill, the former Formula One racing driver, which was the first clue. After a little chat with Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus, a car quietly drove onto the stage.

They’ve done the first car ‘bundle’ in a drive (pardon the pun) to get rid of the ICE (internal combustion engine).

“For £299 a month, you can lease a BYD Dolphin with bi-directional charging, a car charger fully installed and all your travel.”

You can imagine the noise that created! For anyone considering the shift to an electric car this is a brilliant way to do it.

WhatsApps started flying

When Imogen Bhogal from Everything Electric Show walked onto the stage to chair the panel discussion on retrofit, it was the cherry on the cake. I dashed off a quick WhatsApp to say ‘I’m here’ and soon we were chatting about this amazing new car offer.

Having taken my lovely son-in-law with me for the day, who just happens to be a videographer, I was able to capture our chat for you here. Take a look and let me know – would you give this offer a go?