Whitley Bay resident states the benefits of peer to peer EV charging apps

From 15th June 2022 all new homes and buildings such as supermarkets or workplaces built in England, will be required to have electric vehicle (EV) charging points installed. Not only will this make it far easier for residents of new build homes to run an EV – they will also have the option to rent their charger out to help their neighbourhood go greener and earn additional income.

Alex Johnstone, an IT specialist from Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear says, “I live in a new build property and was keen to run an EV. I’ve got a Jaguar i-Pace, which I love. In my case the property didn’t come with a charger, so I had to install my own.

“A lot of my neighbours live in flats and terraces and can’t have a charger, so I rent mine out via a Community Charging scheme called Co Charger . The app handles the ‘matchmaking’, bookings, and payments. I can choose the rental price and am gradually earning back the expenses involved with installing my charger. I’ve already helped 6 motorists to charge their EVs.”

Joel Teague, CEO of Co Charger who is on the Electric Vehicles forum of the Renewable Energy Association and an expert on the EV market says, “This new legislation will be ideal for residents of new build properties who want to run an EV.”

“It’s hoped that the new rules about EV chargers in new build homes will lead to the installation of an additional 145,000 charge points every year. If just 10% of these were rented out to neighbours that would mean an additional 14,500 charge points annually – without any additional holes being dug in the road or public money spent.”

Electric vehicle charger owners can become ‘Hosts’ by renting out their chargers to a few neighbours. ‘Chargees’ are motorists who need bookable, reliable, and affordable charging close to home. Co Charger, the only purpose-built EV charger sharing platform connects them via their app which handles the ‘matchmaking’, bookings and payments.

Community Charging has support from the government, which highlighted it in their ‘Taking Charge: the electric vehicle infrastructure strategy’ report, in which it stated that ‘Peer to peer charging (also known as Community Charging) will see many people making their private charge points available to rent.’

Councils such as Kent and Dorset are flagging up Community Charging on their websites, and it is supported by key industry figures such as AA President Edmund King.

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