Category Archives: BP Chargemaster

EV charge point manufacturers revise offers and pricing for home units

BP Chargemaster, Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, POD Point

[From 9 April] With the Office of Low Emissions (OLEV) updating it’s EV Homecharge scheme at the start of next week, many charge point manufacturers have revised their offers on electric car charging points.

Although, the government will still be supporting the installation of charging points at homes across the UK, the grant has been capped at £700 as opposed to £900. Full details on what is on offer from the government under the new EV Homecharge scheme can be found on the OLEV website.

With less money on the table from the government this means that unfortunately for new EV drivers or those looking to get an EV there are no longer any charge point manufacturers offering domestic units and installation for free.

Having said that, there is still a substantial subsidy being offered which means home charging points are still relatively inexpensive to have installed; especially since EV drivers will be recouping the money almost immediately by avoiding petrol stations.

POD Point and Chargemaster both offer 3kW dedicated home charging units for under £200, incluing full installation. There is also the option to upgrade to a 7kW fast unit for around £100 extra.

Source: Zap-Map

BMW i3 Charging (Image: Chargemaster)

Chargemaster Keeps UK Charging Network 99% Operational

BP Chargemaster, Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Source London

Chargemaster, the UK’s largest supplier of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, is keeping its charge points in London and the rest of the UK online with its industry-leading operations.

Earlier this year, the British firm installed its 10,000th public and commercial charging point and, along with a telephone support line that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to resolve urgent issues, has a dedicated team of electricians and engineers to fix any faults, typically within 48 hours.

David Martell, Chargemaster CEO, said:

“We are proud to have the best-maintained charge points not only in London, but across the entire UK electric vehicle charging estate. Our own Chargevision back-end management system is the best in the business and provides us with diagnostics on every single one of our charge points, every minute of the day.”

Chargemaster, through its sophisticated Chargevision system and its own dedicated national maintenance team of technicians, is able to monitor the operational availability of its network. Over the last year, its owned and maintained infrastructure achieved a 98.7% serviceability record for all charge points on a month-by-month basis.

Today, just two charge points installed and maintained by Chargemaster in London are not fully operational, and both of these are scheduled to be back online within the next few days.

David Martell added:

“We take maintenance and serviceability very seriously. As the UK’s largest provider of EV charging infrastructure, we have a responsibility to ensure that electric car drivers can rely on our network to enable them to complete their journeys.”

Chargemaster infrastructure is part of the Source London charging network, a scheme which involves more than 60 site/charge point owners – from local councils to car park operators. Contractually, funding currently exists for the maintenance of London’s EV infrastructure and Chargemaster believes that if this funding was properly reclaimed by charge point owners, any sites that are currently out-of-service could be brought back online swiftly.

Triple Standard RAPID EV Charger For Wiltshire (Image: Chargemaster)

Triple Standard RAPID EV Charger For Wiltshire

BP Chargemaster, Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment

The UK’s latest EV quick charging network, RAPID EV, installed by Chargemaster across six sites in Wiltshire, is now open for business.

UK’s Minister for Transport, Baroness Kramer, officially opened the network during a special event held Monday, November 3 2014.

The RAPID EV network has been set up by Wiltshire Council and partially funded by the UK government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles.

The charging points, located in public parkings in Salisbury, Melksham, Warminster, Trowbridge, Corsham and Chippenham, are of the type that can charge an electric car to 80 percent of its capacity in a little over 20 minutes.

Chargemaster said each charging point is ‘triple-standard’ with three separate plugs to connect to the widest possible range of electric vehicles, including a DC 44 kilowatt CHAdeMO plug, a DC 44 kilowatt CCS Combi plug and an AC 43 kilowatt Type 2 plug.

Baroness Kramer mentioned in her speech all six RAPID EV charge points are free for EV drivers to use, with only normal parking charges applying at each of the sites.

“More and more people are switching to plug-in vehicles, with more than 5,000 sold in the last three months,” said Transport Minister Baroness Kramer. “We need the right infrastructure to keep building that momentum. Providing charge points like these means people can be confident that they can charge their car when they are out and about.”

All RAPID EV charging points are said to be linked to Chargemaster’s national POLAR network, with access via the POLAR charging card, as well as smartphone APP based access at www.polarinstant.com.

Source: Hybrid Cars