OCTOPUS Energy’s electric vehicle (EV) roaming service Electroverse has opened up Plug & Charge technology to customers with compatible cars, in a bid to make the EV charging experience even easier.

Plug & Charge means drivers plug their car into a public charge point and walk away. The vehicle syncs with the charge point through the customer’s Electroverse account and begins charging automatically. There’s no need for a card, app or website, and the charging process and billing are all handled automatically by Octopus.

While Plug & Charge tech has been the norm for Tesla drivers using Tesla chargers (as the car, charger and app are all created and managed by Tesla), non-Tesla EV drivers previously haven’t had easy access to it.

Electroverse’s tech has enabled Plug & Charge to work for EV drivers with Volkwagen’s iD cars and Cupra Born cars, on IONITY’s ultra-rapid chargers across Europe. Major brands – including BMW, Audi, Skoda, Mercedes and Ford – have announced intentions to support the technology, as well as lots of different charging networks.

Matt Davies, Director of Octopus Electroverse: “This Plug & Charge milestone shows how technology delivers better electric vehicle charging. It provides a roadmap for the future of seamless public charging – and we’ve got big plans to roll it out further. We’re making it easier for car manufacturers and charging networks to support Plug & Charge and create a simpler experience for EV drivers.”

Other Octopus Electroverse features include an interactive global map showing 750,000+ chargers and their availability, a route-planner to ease ‘range anxiety’, and full in-car support through Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and in-car app stores.  EV drivers wanting to try this out themselves can follow this link to sign up to Electroverse, and the app can be downloaded on Apple and Android.