Chargemaster is to invest £15 million in 2,000 new charging sites and advanced technology after completing the acquisition of Elektromotive and its subsidiary Charge Your Car.

The advanced charging technologies will include new access such as contactless credit card payments and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), support and back office systems. 

These will complement its current access mechanisms, including Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cards and smartphone apps.

Following the acquisition, Chargemaster’s Polar customers now have access to more than 5,000 charging points throughout the UK.

The company now employs around 190 staff, including more than 70 expert field installation and maintenance engineers.

Chargemaster also plans to install wireless charging units in the next two years to support the new cars and taxis that are expected to be coming to market with inductive charging. 

Chargemaster’s introduction of more than 250 new Ultracharge units across the UK in 2017 has already commenced, with the rapid charge units installed across multiple Q-Park locations in London.

The number of destination chargers operated by Chargemaster is also expected to increase by 2,000 units over the next 12 months, thanks to partnerships with a number of hotel and restaurant chains.

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.

"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.”

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