Vattenfall and NewMotion Sign E-Mobility Roaming Agreement in UK

Vattenfall, NewMotion have signed a roaming agreement for the UK as the first step towards interoperability of EV charging networks

Vattenfall and NewMotion, two leading companies in smart charging solutions for electric vehicles (EV) in Europe, have signed a roaming agreement for the UK as the first step towards interoperability in the UK. This will improve electric vehicles driver’s charging options by offering access to over 400 additional public charging points around the UK via a single app or charge card.

NewMotion, a member of the Shell group is a leading company in smart charging solutions for electric vehicles in Europe and has installed more than 55,000 charge points across the region.

Tomas Björnsson, vice president E-mobility at Vattenfall said that the electric transport era is now its critical point, and this ability of different charging networks and cars to work seamlessly together can help it expand more.

“The era of electric transport is at a critical juncture and one of the things to make e-mobility fly is the ability of different charging networks and cars to work seamlessly together to make charging easy and efficient for customers. The agreement with NewMotion is among the first of its kind in the UK, and an important step towards offering a hassle-free charging experience for UK drivers.”

The firm claims that presently, the UK network is effectively “closed”, with the market for charging infrastructure for EVs featuring very few roaming agreements. Drivers of EVs need several apps and charge cards to be able to have access to charge points of different operators, while in other parts of Europe the networks are easily accessible with just one charge card. Currently, there are around 25,000 public charging points in the UK, of which only a small minority are open to roaming agreements.

Recently, Electrify America and EVgo had announced a similar interoperability agreement that was signed to increase the access to EV charging stations throughout the US. The roaming partnership allows drivers to charge their EVs on both EVgo and Electrify America public chargers without additional fees, using their existing accounts for a seamless experience.