ChargePlace Scotland partners with Paua to trial new roaming charge platform

30th Jun 2022

ChargePlace Scotland partners with Paua to trial new roaming charge platform

A new one-card system that allows EV drivers to connect to Scotland’s charging network is being piloted next week… the much need ‘roaming’ platform has been devised to allow access and billing across multiple charging systems. It will be trialled at next week’s Great British EV Rally that sets off from John o’ Groats on a 1300 plus miles to Land’s End.

ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) has partnered with market leading EV fleet fuel card provider Paua to provide the new roaming solution for EV business drivers.

This is the first step in what could become a long-term partnership with CPS, enabling business drivers using the Paua platform to access multiple Scottish charging networks via a single solution.

An important development for fleet drivers, the Paua EV charge card solution provides simplification for business drivers in particular. It is also a boost to CPS chargepoint owners as the partnership has the potential to drive increased utilisation across the network.

According to Paua, electric vehicle drivers today face challenges when they want to charge on multiple networks as they need to contract with each one separately,...this is a particular problem for business drivers. The solution to this problem is known as roaming.

ChargePlace Scotland, operated by Swarco on behalf of Scottish Ministers, is aiming to improve consumer experience across its network of over 2,200 public charge points by offering drivers the ability to roam seamlessly across other networks.

This has been a key strand of the Scottish and UK Governments’ respective visions for the future of public EV charging.

Paua’s new platform aggregates multiple networks together and provides fleet managers with a single solution with single billing. The simple RFID card backed up by a powerful mobile app presents all the data the drivers need to find, charge, and pay.

Single billing means that the fleets can accurately account for costs and recover the 20% VAT on public charging costs, says Paua.

It has always been understood that to enable a true national roaming network, it would be necessary to integrate coverage in Scotland. With the introduction of ChargePlace Scotland, Paua is the first roaming solution that enables a true national coverage.

Chris Waldron, Head of Low Carbon Consumers at Transport Scotland, stated “We are delighted to have entered this partnership with Paua. The Scottish Government is firmly committed to transport decarbonisation and we see roaming as a key step in improving driver experience.

“The GB EV Rally is the perfect event for trialling network roaming across ChargePlace Scotland. We look forward to building on this experience and enabling wider interoperability in future.”

All 2,200+ chargepoints (around 4,000 connectors) across Scotland will be linked to Paua’s roaming network taking the total live connectors available to Paua business drivers to greater than 15,000.

Swarco managing director, Justin Meyer states; “As the operator of the ChargePlace Scotland network we are continually seeking ways to improve how we support EV drivers. The partnership with Paua paves the way for easier driving for business fleets. We are delighted to support such a pioneering company”.

The announcement was welcomed by EVA Scotland director Neil MacLennan who said: “Making the EV charging billing process for drivers simple to understand and easy to operate is essential for both the day-to-day user experience and a practical perspective when it comes to cross system connectivity and billing. These are the key factors in persuading both the ordinary EV motorist and the fleet operators who are eager to make the transition to all electric transportation to do so.

“EVA Scotland has advocated for, and advised government and charge point operator of the need for a roaming service that brings together a unified system, that reduces the number of cards, apps and tariffs EV drivers currently have to juggle.

“Having one-card solutions that allow charging across multiple networks is a real driver benefit. We are encourage by this partnership and believe it represents a genuine opportunity to improve the EV driver’s charging experience in Scotland.”

Niall Riddell, CEO and co-founder of Paua whose low carbon career began in Thurso having grown up in Glen Lyon said:

“It was always important for me to ensure that electric vehicle drivers could traverse the length of the Great British Isles. Paua now integrates some of the largest roaming partners including entire country-wide networks.”

Paua is the largest independent EV roaming network developers, modernising fuel cards for business operators.


Additional media coverage

Fleetworld

AMonline

Daily Record

Greenfleet

Transport + Energy

John O’Groates & Caithness Courier

The Scotsman

CPS

AFV News

Electric Drives

WebTimes

The Northern Times


Comments

This is definitely a step in the right direction, but does it have to be restricted to business fleet operators only?  Surely this is the sort of facility from which all EV drivers, both business and private, would benefit, and not only restricted to Scotland only but right across the UK.

I detest all the apps and cards that used to be required i much prefer to just tap and go. Driving an EV is time consuming enough without faffing about at chargers for apps! As for driving from John O groats to lands end - good luck! I hope there’s not many of them or they’ll be waiting at chargers for hours! My usual ICE journey of Glasgow to Hertford takes 7.5 hours but 10-12 hours in an EV.  I hope there’s no preferential treatment for the drivers and they have to take pot luck as to whether their intended charger is working or not! Life will be better for them when they cross the border, England seem to have got it more sorted than Scotland

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