The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has given clearance for Chargemaster to acquire Elektromotive and Charge Your Car.
The approval allows EV charging point supplier Chargemaster to complete the full purchase of Elektromotive, one of the first infrastructure suppliers in the country, and its subsidiary, Charge Your Car.
It marks a significant consolidation of the UK EV infrastructure market, including the supply of charging points and nationwide public charging networks.
The acquisition will see Chargemaster invest additional resources into Elektromotive and Charge Your Car. Focusing on increasing its network of public chargers and enhancing maintenance and customer services, the move helps 90,000 EV drivers stay mobile across the UK.
Chargemaster will integrate its public charging network, Polar, with the Charge Your Car networks.
David Martell, chief executive of Chargemaster, said: “This is great news for the rapidly growing number of EV drivers in the UK.
"By integrating the Polart and Charge Your Car networks, we can provide more UK charging points, a number of new advanced features, and a better customer experience.
"Polar plus membership gives every EV motorist access to more than 5,000 charge points nationwide, with around 90% of them completely free to use.
"We are committed to keeping the costs of charging low to support the industry as we transition into a new era of motoring.”
Gordy - 23/01/2017 12:25
Great idea. My only reservation is this: "How do we ensure there is not a monopoly charging infrastructure?" I only ask as it was extremely disappointing and premature for Ecotricity to start charging £6 for 40 minutes charging at the motorway service charging points. I am prepared to pay but my Leaf only uses 18kW MAX when I charge so £2 would be much fairer, as most of the actual units (at about £40,000 each) were paid for by Nissan. Would it not be possible for a charity to be formed to run / manage the charging network or even nationalise it? It may help the take-up of EVs and thereby help the government reach their emissions targets, albeit belatedly?