Chargepoint

Commercial vehicle financing experts Close Brother Asset Financing has teamed up with RAW Charging to offer fully-financed electric vehicle charging installations through the ChargePoint network.

This will allow companies to have smart electric vehicle chargers for cars and commercial vehicles installed and spread the cost over five to seven years.

RAW Charging has partnered with ChargePoint to develop charging solutions that will allow EV operators to manage access, set pricing, monitor energy use and analyse utilisation.

ChargePoint has the world’s largest advanced EV charging network of over 68,000 chargers worldwide. But upfront costs can be a deterrence from taking the first step into smart EV charging.

RAW Charging has been developing and financing renewable energy projects around the UK, including solar, wind, biomass and anaerobic digestion since 2012.

“With the impending growth of the electric vehicle market in the UK it is essential that organisations are able to spread the cost of both the equipment and installation of the infrastructure,” said Bruce Galliford, CEO of RAW Charging. “It was important for us to have a strong finance partner who could match the sophistication of the ChargePoint network and expected demand over the coming years of growth."

ChargePoint chargers are designed for both cars and commercial vehicles.

"The vehicle manufacturers are heading towards a common connector for charging and this will be across car and commercial," continued Galliford. "We are expecting the fleet side of the charging network to become the largest area of growth over the next five years. This will be greatly accelerated if any of the major city councils decide to go electric vehicle only in the centres. When this happens it will result in the mass adoption of electric vans for last mile delivery.

“At this stage we are unsure as to what the larger electric trucks will use as they require much greater power to charge. In many cases this will need cooled cables and connectors. But ChargePoint are working on many options, as one of their shareholders is Daimler.”

Close Brothers Asset Finance, a key player in the commercial vehicle contract hire and leasing market, predicts “a significant rise” in the take up of electric commercial vehicles, and it is currently trialling electric vans with one retail customer.

John Fawcett, CEO of Close Brothers Asset Finance’s Transport division, said: “We are delighted to have been selected as RAW Energy’s funding partner for ChargePoint charging stations. The EV revolution is really starting to take hold and we have long been supporters of the move towards more efficient vehicles.”

Topics