Monta, a Copenhagen-based electric vehicle (EV) charging start-up, has announced its expansion into the UK to help meet a national shortage of charge points. The UK’s Committee on Climate Change suggests 1,170 charge points will be needed per 100km of road by 2030. However recent figures show the UK was below half of that target at 570 per 100km in 2019.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders predicts more than 700 EV charge points per day will need to be installed in the UK until 2030 to meet this target – far more than the current run rate of 42 per day.
“The UK is ready to go full electric, but it simply doesn’t have the infrastructure to support itself,” says Monta CEO, Casper Rasmussen. “Our mission is to change that. We believe people shouldn’t be held back from creating a more sustainable and healthier planet due to a lack of availability.”
The Monta app connects business owners, site managers and private homeowners with charging point installers to help power electric vehicles. EV owners can freely use the app to find charging points near them as well as track energy consumption usage and costs. The app integrates with more than 20 of the UK’s popular charging brands, reducing the risk of drivers being caught out of range of a branded charge point.
The popular Danish start-up has raised £4.2m (US$5.8m) in capital investment since its inception in December 2020, including early investors of electric vehicle leader Tesla. Its app already counts more than 6,000 active users, aiming for 400,000 by 2022, and has helped make 50,000 EV charges since it launched in February.
“We started out by focusing on peer-to-peer charging for neighbours to share their charge points while also providing an extra source of income,” Rasmussen continues. “But we soon realized that we could expand this approach to business and property owners. For example, many people in built-up cities don’t own cars, never mind electric ones, and maybe don’t have a driveway to install charge points. Alternatively, in more rural areas, there are very few charge points per km which is putting people off from owning EVs altogether.”
Along with the Government’s plan to ban new diesel and petrol vehicle sales from 2030, the news of EV factory expansions by Vauxhall and Nissan is predicted to drive further growth of EV sales in the UK. Currently, there are more than 132,000 new electric vehicles registered in the UK, an increase of 28% year-over-year.
“We quickly realised that solving the problem in the long-term takes collaborative help from private businesses, EV owners and charge point manufacturers,” says Rasmussen. “Our app simply brings them all together in one community so that we can tackle this issue head-on.”
“It’s incredibly gratifying to spearhead the company’s growth in the UK and support a more sustainable environment,” adds Alok Dubey, who will be the new UK country manager, overseeing the expansion. “The work Monta does in providing charge points and growing the electric vehicle charge, but the knock-on effects of creating a cleaner environment through a reduction of CO2 emissions, is what really motivates us to create change.”
Alok previously worked on expanding ride-hailing apps Bolt and Gett in the UK, and says he is looking forward to being part of the UK’s electric revolution.
“The UK has really ambitious targets to support the sale of electric vehicles, but we know this can’t be done without the infrastructure to support this,” says Dubey. “By connecting potential charge point owners with installers and making it easier for EV owners to get from A to B, we’re looking forward to helping the UK complete its own journey towards a cleaner, brighter future.”
