Zap-Map today announces it has secured a major investment from Good Energy, one of the UK’s leading renewable energy suppliers. Good Energy has taken a 12.9% share in Zap-Map’s parent company, Next Green Car Ltd, with an option to take a majority share within two years.
Zap-Map is the go-to app for Britain’s 200,000 electric vehicle (EV) drivers – planning routes, locating charge points, checking their availability and sharing power. Its 70,000 regular monthly users have more than 11,000 charging devices to choose from across the UK, all easily navigable from its intuitive app — from service stations to car parks, retail sites to private driveways. And as the network continues to increase rapidly, so too does the number of Zap-Map registered EV drivers in its thriving community, who actively log the status and availability of the national charging network.
Good Energy’s investment reflects the fast-changing way in which people live with energy with an increasing number of households and businesses now generating, storing and sharing power, rather than simply consuming it. Good Energy is at that forefront of the shift towards localised power, as the only UK energy company with more customers generating their own power versus buying it. EVs will play a crucial role in the new energy sharing economy and their increasing numbers will be a huge catalyst for that change, making power more tangible than ever before.
Bristol-based Zap-Map licenses its live mapping service to Nissan for use on its customer portal and partners with Go Ultra Low, the government and car industry backed campaign designed to encourage EV-adoption. Following the successful launch of its Smart Route Planner, integration with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is planned. This is in addition to the roll-out of Zap-Pay, which simplifies smartphone payments for EV charging – one dedicated charging app usable across multiple networks, instead of signing up to a myriad of supplier cards and apps with different accounts, passwords and user experiences.
Complementing Good Energy’s localised power strategy, Zap-Map features Zap-Home, a network of private charging locations owned by households and businesses who have chosen to share electricity with other Zap-Map registered drivers. Access times and charging costs are set by the owner – or supplier – of each charging point, with some choosing to offer electricity for free. Where peer-to-peer payments apply, these can also be securely made within the Zap-Map app.
Juliet Davenport, CEO and Founder of Good Energy, said: “The way we view energy is changing. Environmental challenge and digital opportunity are converging; intelligent power sharing is replacing conventional power supply. Localised generation, localised storage and localised sharing too. EVs bring power to life, and the rapid rise of incredibly useful apps like Zap-Map make the management of that power so much simpler – at home, at work, or on the go.”
Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder of Zap-Map, said: “Juliet and Good Energy share the understanding that the growth of EVs requires an entirely new mindset: a localised point-by-point power network and the ability to easily share or pay for electricity on a charge-by-charge basis. As Good Energy leads in genuinely renewable energy supply and Zap-Map has the UK’s largest EV online community. Together we can lead in the emerging energy sharing economy in which homes, businesses and EV owners will trade and exchange power using the local energy grids of the not-too-distant future.”
The investment by Good Energy will help fund and accelerate Zap-Map’s product development as it realises the full potential of its digital EV charging services. The two South West England teams will collaborate on broader applications for the proprietary platform, while seeking to maintain the exponential growth of its EV user base.
Lead image (left to right): Ben Lane (CTO, Zap-Map), Juliet Davenport (CEO, Good Energy), Melanie Shufflebotham (COO, Zap-Map)
