Rightcharge raises £700,000 to accelerate smart EV charging adoption

Rightcharge, the charge point and energy tariff comparison service, has raised £700,000 in Seed funding to help accelerate the adoption of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging in the UK.

The investment will be used to help grow the business and funding came from Link Venture Capital (a Norwegian cleantech VC), and a host of Angel investors such as James Hind (founder of Carwow), Mike Allen (Zeus Capital/early investor in Carwow), Stuart Dyble (co-founder of Influence emobility/former board member at Jaguar Land Rover) and Julia Stent (former commercial director at uSwitch).

The UK government has pledged to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030 and new hybrids by 2035 to help cut the transport sector’s carbon emissions – and it is estimated 10 million people will make the switch over the next decade.

However, a lack of clear information means drivers are missing the opportunity to switch to smart energy tariffs and install charge points that automatically schedule charging for when it is cheapest and most sustainable.

By using an EV-friendly energy tariff and smart charger combination, EV drivers can make substantial savings, reduce their carbon emissions by 25% and help the UK’s electricity networks avoid billions of pounds of reinforcement to the grid.

 The state of the energy market has been particularly turbulent for consumers in 2021, with rising prices meaning a lack of options for domestic customers to save money and smaller new-entrant energy providers being driven out of business.

 However, electric vehicle customers can buck that trend because of the off-peak pricing offered by EV-friendly energy tariffs.

Most of the major, established market players offer EV tariffs that can save customers up to £158 per year. 

Charlie Cook, founder of Rightcharge, said: “We want to empower the everyday person to choose electric by making EV charging easier, cleaner, cheaper and more accessible.

“To date we’ve helped over 10,000 drivers to find their installer or energy supplier but we’re just scratching the surface.

“Around 10-15 million more drivers will go electric by 2030 in the UK alone and the new investment means we are ready to support all automotive retailers who are looking for a charging partner that can deliver industry-leading customer experience.”

This funding announcement is the latest from Rightcharge which sees it continue to support EV drivers with its comparison services after it partnered with Lookers (one of the UK’s largest car retailers), and Leasing.com (the UK’s biggest car leasing comparison site), in the last few months.