Currently reading: Home EV chargepoint booking service announced

‘Chargie’ takes Airbnb-style private rental to the home EV chargepoint pool

A private rental scheme for private owners’ EV charge points is to be launched later this month, named Chargie. 

The service, which is comparable to private accommodation rental app Airbnb, allows owners of home EV charge points to rent out the chargers to EV owners, who book the charger in advance. Users are already being registered, but the service is officially launched on 16 May. 

The service currently operates from a website, but its founders are currently working on an app for launch within 3-4 months which is expected to further bolster registrations.

Rental prices are decided by the charge point owner, but the company adds its 10% service fee on top of this for registered EV charge point owners, or 20% for those who use the service to charge only. Chargie says that the cost to the homeowner is between £2 and £4 per charge.

Chargie claims to be the first private EV charger rental service in the UK, and could more than double the UK’s EV charger network, depending on the number of home EV charger owners who sign up. 

The company hopes to help grow the uptake of EVs by increasing the charger network in this way; there are currently around 12,500 public charge points available in the UK, and the company hopes to grow this number to create a network of publicly available EV chargers considerably more than this, with a pool of around 100,000 plug-in cars on UK roads.

Chargie was set up by EV-owning husband and wife Jan Stannard and Jeremy Coulter; the idea was born after the couple found no local charging point near a holiday destination in the UK. 

"We would like it to make a material difference to people’s EV experience. There needs to be the certainty of travelling to a destination with ample charging; certainty that there will be a charger in working order without being occupied or blocked by a petrol car. The booking element of Chargie provides the certainty.” 

“Chargie is Jamaican patois for ‘close friend’ – we have the belief that people enjoy helping each other, but the service depends on the goodwill of the EV community; making sure the chargers are available, and that charges are not overpriced,” said Stannard. 

Stannard said that since registrations began, patterns of potential users requesting use of the site with only a charge point but no EV of their own, as well as interest from non-home locations, such as pubs and restaurants, which could benefit from added custom by offering a place to charge, as well as something to do while the car is charging. 

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oop north 3 May 2017

Not worth it for private owner

I have an i3 Rex by way of background.

So I make 20p per charge profit for letting someone use my charger - that I will have to pay tax on. And I will have to let them into my garage for that, moving my car out of the way to let them get in. And I don't really want to entertain someone in my kitchen while their car charges. Really, no... unless I want to be able to use someone's domestic charger elsewhere in the country in exchange for letting others use mine

I can see the benefit for businesses wanting to attract custom - as long as it's a business where someone will spend a couple of hours rather than 20 minutes, but I am unconvinced

bol 3 May 2017

How does it deal with payment?

Most home chargers have no security other than isolation at the consumer unit. What stops someone just rocking up and plugging in without paying? The same problem already exists obviously, but at least at the moment I know that if there's anyone plugged in to my charger they're stealing from me. Not that it has ever happened.
The Apprentice 3 May 2017

It did pass my mind when

It did pass my mind when another person down the road from me got the same car as me, if I were keen I could sneak on their drive late, plug in and take my car away in the early hours. EV's are good for this as they are so stealthy but it didn't seem too worth it to steal 50p of power. -- Why this is really interesting is that it gives many places the ability to offer customers an extra attraction that is self funding for only a basic £200 charger instead of a £10,000 full install. Due to slow charging it would encourage customers to spend substantial time at your premises. It also adds a wide safety net for pure EV owners. Not sure how well the domestic model would work, if a desperate Leaf owner is stuck on your drive for an hour are you happy to let them use your toilet for example?