Vattenfall and Shell subsidiary to offer ‘roaming’ EV charging

Vattenfall and the Shell subsidiary NewMotion will offer ‘roaming’ access to over 400 additional public EV charging points around the UK via a single app or charge card.

Currently, there are around 25,000 public charging points in the UK. However, just a small minority are open to roaming agreements.

It means that drivers of EVs need several apps and charge cards to be able to have access to charge points of different operators.

The companies hope the agreement will put the UK in line with other parts of Europe where charging networks are easily accessible with just one charge card.

Vattenfall operates 14.500 charge points and is helping to build inCharge, one of the biggest charging networks in Northern Europe.

NewMotion has installed over 55,000 charge points across the continent.

Tomas Björnsson, cice president E-mobility at Vattenfall said: ‘The era of electric transport is at a critical juncture and one of the things to make e-mobility fly is the ability of different charging networks and cars to work seamlessly together to make charging easy and efficient for customers.

‘The agreement with NewMotion is among the first of its kind in the UK, and an important step towards offering a hassle-free charging experience for UK drivers.’

In related news, fears about a lack of charging points are still the biggest factor behind people putting off the switch to electric vehicles (EVs), a new survey has revealed.

The survey by Venson found that 69% of motorists in the UK are put off from switching to EVs due to a perceived lack of EV charging infrastructure, even though they broadly know the advantages of driving an EV.

The survey also highlights concerns about limited battery range, with 57% of those surveyed saying this was still a barrier when it came to them considering buying an EV.

Photo Credit – Pixabay