App launched enabling EV charge point sharing

Co Charger has created a new platform enabling those who do have chargers, whether motorists, businesses or community buildings, to share them with neighbours who don't.

The company says it will help address a challenge whereby those who live in flats or terraced houses without anywhere to install an EV charging point can still invest in an electric vehicle. According to the English Housing Survey 2016, this group represents at least 40% of the population.

Joel Teague, CEO of Co Charger said: "It's a simple, community-based solution to the biggest barrier facing the adoption of electric vehicles: how to be an electric vehicle owner if you cannot charge at home. Millions of people want to ditch their fossil fuel vehicles in favour of electric ones but won't until they have the convenience, affordability and reliability of home charging. Co Charger gives those people the confidence to switch by making it easy for a neighbour with a charger to make it available to them – cheaply and dependably.

"The biggest cost of charging a car is the charger itself. The beauty of Co Charger is that by making more use of existing chargers it gives the advantages of charging whilst at home to everyone – right now. The Chargee gets their electric car and the Host's charger earns its keep. Everyone wins."

The Co Charger app connects Hosts with Chargees. It is available for both iOS and Android, free to download and there is no subscription. It limits the need for the disruption and expense of public charger installation and provides the closest experience possible to home charging for its Chargees.'

The app enables Hosts to manage bookings and set the price they would like to charge for the service, meaning they can make some additional income from regular local bookings.

Chargees are people who have an electric vehicle, or are considering buying one but aren't able to charge at home. Co Charger offers them an option other than public charging points and one that's more convenient and economical. Using the app, Chargees can browse local charge points and see rates that apply for each Host.

Co Charger is actively collaborating with other organisations and businesses such as councils and car manufacturers to raise awareness of Community Charging and help accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles.