New service lets homes and businesses share electric charging points

Electric vehicle owners are a generous bunch, according to research by electric charging point database Zap-Map.

It says almost half of electric vehicle owners are willing and able to share their home charging point with other drivers – leading the firm to create a network of available chargers at homes and workplaces across the country.

Named Zap-Home and Zap-Work, the peer-to-peer charging networks allow domestic and business charge point owners to earn money by sharing their unit while it’s not in use. This could bring benefits not only to those with charging points already installed but could also provide an option to those not blessed with off-street parking or a workplace charger.

Zap-Map says that more than 30 per cent of workplaces are also willing to share their chargers – those not already on an established public charging network. Contact details and payment are shared in the same way, with Zap-Map pitching the service as a way for businesses to recover the costs of charge point installation faster.

Ben Lane, chief technical officer at Zap-Map, said: “We are delighted to be bringing Zap-Home and Zap-Work to the UK EV market in response to the growing demand for charger sharing services.

“Of our 60,000 monthly user base, we know that around half are willing to share their home point with other Zap-Map users. Businesses are particularly proactive, with five per cent of workplace charging points already being shared, either for employee use or as part of improving customer service.”