Chargemaster has announced £15m of investment in new EV charging sites and advanced technology in the UK following their successful acquisition of Elektromotive and subsidiary, Charge Your Car. Areas likely to see investment include contactless credit card systems, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), and wireless charging units to support the upcoming 'inductive charging' car and taxi models. These will be in addition to existing Chargemaster mechanisms, from Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cards to apps on smartphone. David Martell, chief executive of Chargemaster, said: 'The acquisition of Elektromotive and Charge Your Car is a major milestone in the company's expansion plan. 'We currently partner with eight car manufacturers and we are aware that the number of new electric vehicle models going on sale will significantly increase. 'It is widely expected that within the next 10 years, around 50% of new cars sold will be electrically-powered.î After the acquisition, the company now employs 190 staff including over 70 experts in field installation and maintenance engineering. Furthermore, customers of Chargemaster's Polar network will find they have access to more than 5,000 charging points across the UK. The number of Chargemaster destination chargers is also expected to increase by 2,000 units in the next year as a result of the company's numerous hotel and restaurant chain partnerships. "Chargemaster is investing heavily to ensure that the UK is fully equipped to deal with this new generation of motoring, and that it has the most robust, reliable and available charging network in the world,î concluded Martell. Chargemaster's initiative to introduce over 250 Ultracharge units in 2017 has already begun, with several rapid charge units currently accessible in Q-Park locations across London.
