3.1.2013 Chargemaster to acquire Elektromotive

Elektromotive, the first company to introduce public EV charging stations in the UK nearly 10 years ago, is to be taken over by competing EV infrastructure provider, Chargemaster Plc.

Once the acquisition has been confirmed, expected to happen in the coming months, all related information on Next Green Car's Zap-Map will be amended and updated accordingly.

Those who are familiar with electric vehicles in the UK and abroad will are most likely to have heard of both Elektromotive and Chargemaster Plc, both of which have certainly been at the forefront of the EV infrastructure field.

However, once Chargemaster Plc has completed the acquisition, at a cost of £8.5 million, they will become the leading European provider of EV charging equipment, with the scale to be able to compete successfully against divisions of major international players such as Schneider in France and Siemens and RWE in Germany.

It is the intention that the two brands will continue to be marketed in parallel and the economies of scale will enable them to become increasingly competitive in terms of pricing. This will mean that users of charging points from either provider will notice little change, although some pricing schemes may be altered (keep an eye on our Zap-Map for the latest pricing etc).

Chargemaster owns and operates the POLAR recharging network, which it launched in 2011 and which subsequently has grown to become the UK’s largest national recharging network. In 2012 Elektromotive launched Charge Your Car, designed to connect regional charging networks and adopt a central pay-as-you-go scheme.

Over the next eight years the majority of car manufacturers will bring out an electric or plug in hybrid car. To meet this development the European market for charging points is growing rapidly, EV charging point sales in Europe are expected to grow 20 fold over the next eight years and to be worth some €1.2 billion by 2020. According to Pike Research, the market is currently increasing at an annual compound growth rate of 40%.

With a collaboration of skills and experience from both Elektromotive and Chargemaster Plc, including a combination of the geographical territories that both companies currently dominate, the acquisition is likely to be positive news for the UK’s EV charging infractructure.

David Martell, CEO of Chargemaster, said: "I am delighted that we have reached this agreement with Elektromotive; the two companies target highly complementary sectors of the market and offer synergistic product ranges."

Calvey Taylor-Haw, Managing Director of Elektromotive, commented: "This is an extremely positive deal, not only for the two companies but also for the industry and customers. I have respected the market drive and innovative technology that Chargemaster has brought to the sector over the last few years."