Charge point operator (CPO) Believ has partnered with the Octopus Electroverse to make its network of public chargers available on the EV charging platform.
The charging platform’s ‘one-card, one-app’ model gives EV drivers access to 700 charge points from different brands across the UK. This deal adds Believ and its more than 1,400 chargers to the Electroverse platform.
Matt Davies, director of Octopus Electroverse said: “We are thrilled to add more residential and town centre charge points to the Octopus Electroverse platform, making EV charging available with a tap of a card or app. This partnership accelerates our mission to simplify EV charging for everyone.”
Guy Bartlett, chief executive officer at Believ, said that the industry must work together to accelerate the switch toward sustainable transportation: “As an increasing number of drivers transition to EVs, we are committed to ensuring that charge points are reliable and accessible for all. Through partnering with the Octopus Electroverse, we take another stride toward achieving this and in playing our part to help decarbonise UK roads.”
Believ and its sister company Virgin Media O2 partner to deploy public charging infrastructure at scale and pace throughout the UK. The CPO offers all charging speeds and delivers 100% renewable energy across 500 locations.
Zouk Capital’s investment in EV infrastructure
Believ is funded by Liberty Global Ventures and Zouk Capital, which manages the HM Treasury-backed Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (CIIF). The second round of funding that the investment service allocated went to Liberty Charge in May 2020 – Believ is now the company’s trading name.
The CIIF, managed by Zouk, is a dedicated fund set up by the UK government in 2019 to help develop EV infrastructure. It has funded companies including Zest and Good Energy and, most recently, Char.gy.
Char.gy received a £6.4 million investment in 2021, followed by a second round in 2022 that brought the total to £65 million. As of the third round, total investment has reached £100 million.
There have been some concerns around Zouk’s allocation of funds to Instavolt, of which the CIIF manager owns a majority share. Instavolt was the first company to benefit from the fund, but the Infrastructure and Projects Authority assured that there was no conflict of interest in the choice and that due diligence had been conducted.