Octopus Energy’s electric vehicle (EV) roaming service Electroverse has opened up plug and charge technology to customers with compatible cars.
Plug & Charge means drivers plug their car into a public charge point and the vehicle syncs with the charge point through the customer’s Electroverse account and begins charging automatically. There’s no need for a card, app or website, and the charging process and billing are all handled automatically by Octopus.
While this type of tech has been the norm for Tesla drivers using Tesla chargers (as the car, charger and app are all created and managed by Tesla), non-Tesla EV drivers previously haven’t had easy access to it.
Electroverse’s tech has enabled plug and charge to work for EV drivers with Volkwagen’s iD cars and Cupra Born cars, on IONITY’s ultra-rapid chargers across Europe. Brands – including BMW, Audi, Skoda, Mercedes and Ford – have announced intentions to support the technology, as well as lots of different charging networks.
Matt Davies, Director of Octopus Electroverse, said:
This plug and charge milestone shows how technology delivers better electric vehicle charging. It provides a roadmap for the future of seamless public charging – and we’ve got big plans to roll it out further. We’re making it easier for car manufacturers and charging networks to support plug and charge and create a simpler experience for EV drivers.
Other Octopus Electroverse features include an interactive global map showing 750,000+ chargers and their availability, a route-planner to ease ‘range anxiety’.
