Ohme sees trade enquiries double as EV charger law arrives for new homes

Ohme sees trade enquiries double as EV charger law arrives for new homes

June 2022

With the majority of new homes required to have electric car chargers fitted from today (15 June), multiple award-winning EV smart charger provider Ohme has seen a dramatic increase in demand from housing developers and building companies.

The change in building regulation requirements sees the majority of new residential developments, workplaces and supermarkets required by law to have electric vehicle (EV) charging points installed. The change, which comes into force from today, also includes those residential buildings undergoing major renovations with more than ten parking spaces which have associated parking.

The new legislation is part of the government’s wider plan to help cut carbon emissions by encouraging more drivers towards electric cars with an extra 145,000 charging points fitted each year. The move is in addition to part of the run up to the wider ban of the sale of fully petrol and diesel vehicles due to come into effect in 2030.

“We welcome the plans to encourage drivers towards electrified motoring in all its forms by enabling increased access to EV charging points for all home owners,” said Ohme CEO David Watson. “Over the past six months, even before this new legislation arrived, our enquiry levels from developers have more than doubled and we can see that building companies have embraced these new regulations. Developers are already seeking out smarter chargers such as ours as an active selling point for buyers.”

Ohme’s smart chargers can connect with the national grid in real time and automatically adjust its charging for drivers to take advantage of all the times of low price charging with smart electricity tariffs. The result is that EV drivers can potentially run their car for less than £100 a year by smart charging their EV with an Ohme charger compared to charging on standard electricity rates.

Furthermore, Ohme is also alone in offering drivers the option to charge their EV when renewable energy generation on the grid is at its highest, further lowering their CO2 impact and helping developers and building companies to meet corporate sustainability targets.

Richard Smith, National House Building Council’s Head of Standards, Innovation and Research, said: “We support the government’s proposals for more sustainable homes. The journey to net zero carbon will have significant implications for housebuilders, planners and architects. Ensuring the right electric vehicle infrastructure, including easy access to chargepoints, is key. Our own NHBC Foundation research has shown that the UK needs more than 4 million electric vehicle chargepoints by 2030, from a figure of around only 180,000 just two years ago.”

According to the NHBC, there was an increase of 25 per cent of new home registrations* in 2021 compared to 2020 with growth in 11 out of 12 UK regions. So far in 2022, sales of fully-electric vehicles are already up 71.2 per cent on 2021 with a 15-fold increase in the choice of electric models according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

* 153,339 new home registrations in 2021 (source: NHBC)

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Nat Barnes, Head of PR, Ohme – +44 7917 829088 – [email protected]

About Ohme

Ohme was founded in 2017 and is the UK’s leading smart charging platform provider.

At the forefront of EV charging, Ohme offers a smart charging system solution for consumers, business and fleets that enables consumers to charge at off-peak times and reduce their charging costs and environmental impact. Ohme has been named by outside investors as a ‘gigacorn’ – a company that has the potential to get rid of one gigatonne of CO2 from the atmosphere per year.

Ohme is the official charger provider for Motability Operations as well as for housing developers Harron Homes and Hollins Homes. Ohme has just passed the rigorous industry standard certifications for ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 for monitoring quality processes and information security.