£50m investment will see thousands more electric vehicle charging points across Northern Ireland
Electric vehicle charge point operator Weev has received £50million worth of funding for its plans to address the shortage of charging infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
The money is being supplied by Octopus Investments and the funds will allow Weev to install thousands of charging points in Northern Ireland.
Electric vehicle drivers in Northern Ireland have a disproportionate amount of charging points to use compared to the rest of the UK.
According to the Department for Transport there are only 20 public charge points per 100,000 people - substantially lower than the UK average of 60.
With the UK Government’s commitment to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030 there is a need to invest in Northern Ireland's EV charging infrastructure.
Philip Rainey, chief executive of Weev said: "In a world of rising energy prices, consumers and fleet operators are now thinking more seriously than ever before about switching to an EV to unlock significant cost savings and reduce their carbon footprint.
"We are helping to enable this switch by breaking down barriers such as range anxiety through access to convenient and reliable EV chargers. "This investment from Octopus enables a major expansion to the size and scope of the rollout we announced at launch last year.
"We can now increase our focus on providing more rapid and ultra-rapid charging hubs in response to growing demand from EV drivers.
"In total, the capital will enable us to install and maintain a network of thousands of EV charging points over the next five years using locally-based teams and expertise." Lukasz Michalak, Investment Director for Sustainable Infrastructure, at Octopus, added: "OSIF is focused on investing growth capital into sustainable infrastructure businesses tackling climate change and supporting levelling-up ambitions across the UK.
"Weev is the perfect example of the next generation of infrastructure companies doing just that. By backing Weev, we see a great opportunity to deliver a positive impact to Northern Ireland's communities while meeting the financial objectives of the fund. "We have great confidence in the Weev team. Not only have they previously been in charge of various successful infrastructure businesses in Northern Ireland, but they also share our ethos of putting the customer first."
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