Bristol-based electric vehicle app and data provider Zapmap is powering up its aim of making EV charging hassle-free by partnering with energy-saving tech firm Hive.
The link-up will allow Hive customers to make charging their EVs easier at, or away, from home. 
Under the first phase of the partnership starting next year, new Hive EV customers will receive £20 of charging credit to use Zapmap Zap-Pay-enabled EV chargers at thousands of locations across the UK.
Hive, part of British Gas group Centrica, and Zapmap, which is 49.9% owned by Chippenham-headquartered renewable power firm Good Energy, said the offer was part of their shared mission to make it as simple and stress-free to charge on the road as it is at home.
The partnership aims to give customers the freedom to travel and charge wherever they choose, with the ambition of helping more than 1m customers to go electric in the next three years.
Longer-term, the partnership is set to explore bringing together the Hive app and Zapmap’s digital platform to offer further customer benefits. 
These could include enabling Hive customers to track their at-home and public charging within the Hive app, as well as giving them multiple ways to pay for public charging, whether through the Hive app, charge cards or even via their household energy bills.
Zapmap originally launched in 2014 as nextgreencar.com with the aim of becoming the UK’s No.1 green car website to help car buyers find, compare and buy a greener, more economical car.
It went on to develop an app for electric vehicles owners that searched, planned and paid for charging points – part of the business which has now become its main offering and has established itself as the leading app of its kind.
It currently has around 900,000 registered users and has mapped more than 95% of the UK’s public points on its network.
Zapmap co-founder and COO Melanie Shufflebotham said: “By combining simple home and public charging, we can give EV drivers everything they need to find and pay for charging and help the next generation of EV drivers build confidence charging, wherever they go.
“Hive customers can enjoy the benefits of EVs, stress-free, and we’re really excited to continue to expand the service to give them access to the best-priced charging, within the simplest experience, across the broadest range of locations.”
Good Energy CEO Nigel Pocklington said the strategic partnership reinforced the significant role that Zapmap played in making it simple for EV drivers to charge their vehicles.
“EVs and related products such as home charging are a major gateway for customer adoption of renewable energy solutions that can help accelerate decentralised clean power,” he added.
In June Zapmap received a £1.7m investment from Good Energy, taking to around £7.5m its total funding in the firm since its initial investment in 2019, when it acquired a 12.9% stake in Next Green Car.
