New Vauxhall partnership aims to improve EV charger access

Vauxhall has begun a partnership with JustPark, whose community charging network JustCharge allows owners of home wallboxes to rent them out to other electric-car drivers using the company’s app. The British brand will now encourage drivers of its electric cars who do own wallboxes to register them on JustPark, with the aim of improving charging-point access for those without off-street parking.

On JustPark, home-wallbox owners can set their own prices and times when the charger can be rented out, with electric-car drivers nearby able to book slots, activate the charging point and pay for their charging sessions, all on the app. 

Rather than presenting them as a last-resort solution when you’re out and about and running low on juice, companies like JustPark and CoCharge are promoting the idea of drivers regularly using home wallboxes that are shared on their services as a method of community support – and as way of removing a major barrier to electric-car ownership in areas underserved by mainstream charging-point providers.

According to Vauxhall, approximately 40% of UK households don’t have access to off-street parking where they could install a home wallbox. But with wallboxes sitting unused up to 90% of the time, the brand claims the number of publicly accessible chargers in the UK would double if just 5% of those with home charging points were to register them on apps like JustPark.

Owners can also generate additional revenue by listing their home charger on JustPark, which in turn can reduce the already-low running costs of an electric car. 

Vauxhall managing director Paul Willcox said of the new partnership: “We believe [this] will make a genuine difference to encouraging more British drivers to go electric sooner – with all the environmental, financial and driving experience benefits that comes with.”

An electric version of the eighth-generation Vauxhall Astra, called the Astra-e, will be the next addition to the brand’s growing range of zero-emissions models, which currently includes the Mokka-e crossover, Corsa-e hatchback, Combo-e Life MPV and Vivaro-e Life minibus. Vauxhall also produces several electric vans, ranging from the compact Combo-e Cargo to the larger Vivaro-e and Movano-e.