EnTech pioneer Octopus Energy has hit a milestone of over 100,000 electric vehicle charging points on the Electric Juice Network in just over a year since its launch.
Customers of Electric Juice have access to a wide range of charge point operators, including global names such as NewMotion, IONITY, Has.to.be, Mer (Statkraft) and Greenflux, plus UK brands Osprey, Char.gy, Franklin, Hubsta, Alfa, and many more – who all joined the EJN in its first year.
Customers aren’t the only ones benefiting either. After the announcement of a recent partnership with JustPark, the Electric Juice Network is being made available to fleets looking to electrify their vehicles, through either partner networks or dedicated private charging stations situated less than five minutes walk from drivers houses. |
For on-street charging, like a 7kW char.gy lamppost charger, customers usually plug in for longer periods of time near their home, for example overnight or for several hours during the day.
For rapid charging, like a 50kW Osprey charger, customers generally head to a destination and charge their vehicle for around 40 minutes whilst they grab a bite to eat, or do some local shopping. For ultra rapid charging, like a 350kW IONITY charger at a motorway charging station, customers tend to charge for 10-20 minutes (often depending on the fastest charging speed their car can take) for a top up, and then be on their way. |
Drivers of electric vehicles will now be able to pay with their Octopus Energy account across the participating charging networks, with all costs appearing on a single bill. As further networks are added to the roaming service, users of the EJN will soon be able to access many more charging stations worldwide. Currently the EJN is active in over 25 different countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands amongst others, and is even beginning to have coverage as far away as Malaysia and Morocco.
Top 5: countries with MOST chargers per 100 kilometre
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Top 5: countries with LEAST chargers per 100 kilometre
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With their increasingly global charging platform Octopus Energy offers a solution to a long-standing problem for EV drivers, who have criticised the lack of a standardised way of paying as every charging network requires a different card or app.
But it’s not the same story across Europe say the car makers.
There is a serious lack of electric charging points along the road networks in most EU member states, according to new data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association representing 15 car makers.
The findings show that 10 countries do not even have one charger for every 100 kilometre of key roads*. All of these countries also have an electric car market share of less than 3% (except Hungary). 18 EU member states have under 5 charging points per 100km of road, with just four possessing more than 10 chargers for each 100km of streets.
As part of its Fit for 55 climate package published in July, the European Commission proposed that by 2030 CO2 emissions from new cars should be 55% less than 2021 levels – up from the 37.5% target for 2030 set only three years ago. European automakers will have to bring millions of electrically-chargeable cars to the market over the next years to meet this challenging new target.
“Consumers will not be able to make the switch to zero-emission vehicles if there are not enough charging and refuelling stations along the roads where they drive,” cautioned ACEA Director General, Eric-Mark Huitema.
“For instance, if citizens of Greece, Lithuania, Poland and Romania still have to travel 200km or more to find a charger, we cannot expect them to be willing to buy an electric car,” explained Huitema.
“Massive progress on infrastructure deployment will have to be made across the EU in a very short timeframe. The advances made in a few Western European countries are encouraging, but should not distract us from the dire state of the charging network in other EU countries.”
Indeed, the contrast between the Netherlands – the country with the most chargers (47.5 for each 100km of road) – and a vast country like Poland (eight times bigger, but only one charging point for every 250km) is striking.
Huitema added, “Unfortunately, the proposal for an Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation – also a component of the Fit for 55 package – is out of sync with the Commission’s ambitions for the CO2 targets. While we appreciate the introduction of much-needed binding targets for charging and refuelling stations in each member state, they will need to be strengthened significantly if we want to meet our climate goals.”
ACEA is therefore calling on the European Parliament and the Council to grasp this opportunity to put the right conditions for e-mobility in place during the upcoming negotiations on Fit for 55.