The African fintech company Moove has launched Moove Charge in London. The roaming service made for Uber drivers relies on technology by Paua, a roaming provider specialising in UK fleets. Moove Charge is to provide access to 6,600 charge points across the British capital.
Here is a brief introduction for those new to Moove and Paua since both companies are less than a year or two old. Moove first made our news when it signed up as an Uber partner in London this September. The company targets putting 10,000 electric cars on London roads by providing financing to Uber drivers. Today’s announcement did not deliver an update on how close they are to this goal. As for Paua, the company launched a roaming network in April of this year by managing to sign up networks such as Osprey, Fastned, Ionity, Connected Kerb, Char.gy, and Mer, as reported.
While not explicitly said in today’s statement, it is likely that Moove Charge essentially accesses the Paua roaming network, however, on a custom app. Moove says the app allows users to locate charge points compatible with their vehicle, show availability in real-time, filter stations by charge speed, and there is a wallet function for paying.
The company also claims Moove Charge could save drivers up to £340 per year, or approx. 12% of the average annual EV charging cost but does not explain how since the statement did not detail tariffs.
However, when Paua launched, the company offered a ‘Standard’ subscription starting at £3 per driver per month. The ‘Occasional’ tariff is free but incurs a 20% service charge on transactions. The offers then also included three months free of charge. However, Paua does not offer standard rates since pricing remains at the discretion of the CPOs, especially when it comes to DC charging, so the fees are for services such as billing and access only.
London reportedly has a fast-growing network of EV charge points. However, these are operated by a fragmented market of charge point operators (CPOs) and suppliers, Paua points out. The company counted over 25 separate CPOs in London, each with its own app “making navigation of the supply landscape and access to charge points cumbersome”. The startup adds the Moove Charge App has been designed “specifically with these pain points in mind and facilitates a frictionless transition by providing easy location and ease of access to the largest network of slow, fast and ultrafast EV charge points across London”.
Keyword: Moove launches roaming service for Uber drivers with Paua