Payments card operator Visa is with partnering with JustCharge, the community EV service which shares charging access on private driveways and other UK locations.
Under the pairing, Visa customers using JustCharge will receive rewards when paying with debit or credit cards, making paying for EV charging as easy as any other contactless purchase.
In Visa’s survey of EV and hybrid drivers, 95 per cent of respondents said standardised payment across public charging points would give them greater choice and accessibility.
JustCharge enables EV owners with a private charger installed at their home or business premises to rent it out to other EV drivers when not in use, through use of an intuitive app.
By unlocking thousands of available charging points close to workplaces, homes and commuter stations, it helps to make EV ownership a viable option for many more UK households.
Research by JustPark shows that if 5% of households with a home charger joined its community charging network, the number of charging locations available in the UK would double.
Enabling private homeowners to monetise spells when their charging point is free also helps mitigate the government’s cancellation two months ago of its OZEZ EV charger installation grant.
More than half of British households have no designated off-street parking, contributing to a national divide in EV ownership. In northern England there are 52 EVs for every charging point, against 30 in the south.
Motoring lobbyists the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) report that EV sales now account for one in six new UK car registrations. But where EV registrations almost tripled between 2019 and 2021, charge point availability rose only 69%. Most owners of new EV charge at home, its research finds, unsurprisingly.
JustCharge is operated by JustPark, which claims to be the UK’s leading online platform for sharing driveways. It connects five million drivers every year with over 45,000 private driveways, parking spaces, garages and other locations.
Mike Strahlman, EV director at JustPark, said: “We must collectively find solutions to help millions of British households transition to clean-air vehicles.
“Unlocking thousands of home chargers during the 90 per cent of the day they are not in use makes EV adoption a possibility for more than 50 per cent of British households without access to designated off-street parking”, Strahlman calculated.
“This partnership with Visa is a landmark moment”, he continued, “in our efforts to redress the balance and make EV adoption an effortless, viable and cost-effective solution for millions more UK drivers.”
