Utility Octopus’ public charging platform, Octopus Electroverse, will integrate retailer Sainsbury’s’ Smart Charge EV charging service.
Drivers of electric vehicles (EVs) can now access over 560 Smart Charge ultra-rapid EV chargers at 68 Sainsbury’s UK stores nationwide using their Octopus Electroverse card. The chargepoints, owned and operated by Sainsbury’s, offer a full charge in 30 minutes.
The Smart Charge offering launched at the start of this year, targeting 750 150kW charging bays to be installed across 100 Sainsbury’s locations by the close of 2024. Smart Charge now has over 65 hubs across England, Scotland and Wales providing over 560 ultra-rapid bays for all EV drivers.
Patrick Dunne, director of property, procurement and EV ventures at Sainsbury’s said: “Smart Charge continues to go from strength to strength. This partnership represents another critical step in our ambition to make EV charging simple and accessible to all – it couldn’t come at a better time for us.”
Octopus’ “one card, one app” Electroverse offering intends to simplify public EV charging by uniting chargepoints by multiple operators to be accessed on one platform, enabling drivers to book and pay for charging without downloading multiple apps. It claims to be Europe’s largest consumer charging platform.
Matt Davies, director of Octopus Electroverse, said: “It’s fantastic to welcome Sainsbury’s Smart Charge chargers to Electroverse. Their rapidly increasing number of ultra-rapid supermarket chargers helps fit electric car charging perfectly into daily routines.”
Octopus Electroverse makes plunge pricing public
The platform has brought several major players on board so far this year, including a deal with charge point operator (CPO) Believ, which added 1,400 new chargers to the system. A March 2024 agreement with courier and black cab firm Addison Lee now allows the company’s drivers to charge their vehicles at Electroverse chargepoints.
Octopus Energy, which owns Electroverse, supplies around a third of the electricity used by the UK’s public charging network. Instavolt, which purports to be the UK’s largest CPO, announced in October that its network would be 100% powered by green electricity procured from Octopus Energy for Business.
As part of the deal, InstaVolt chargers are included in Octopus Electroverse’s Plunge Pricing scheme, launched by the firm in May this year. It means that EV drivers can take advantage of lower cost charging when green energy is abundant during “Plunge Pricing” events.
EV drivers receive discounts of between 15% and 45% per kWh for charging their cars at these times. According to Octopus Electroverse, “Plunge Pricing” could save EV drivers up to £250 a year.
