The 10 Most Enriching Travel Experience Solution Provider 2019

educing their fuel spend by 90%, and
with an increase in the number and
visibility of charge points and a
decrease in the cost of the electric
vehicles themselves.
Maestro’s Insights
There’s also been better proof of the
environmental impact of EVs, such as
a recent European Climate Foundationcommissioned
report which found that
EVs emit half the CO2 emissions of a
petrol or diesel car through the course
of their lifetime, and the overall effect
has now been shown to be positive.
A New Breed of EV
One company is on a mission to help
drive the adoption of electric vehicles.
Octopus Electric Vehicles is pioneering
an ‘EV bundle’ which will give drivers
everything they need to make the
switch, for one monthly price. The
innovation has come from energy
supplier Octopus Energy, which is
driven by a mission ‘to make buying
energy as easy as buying cornflakes’.
Similarly, the team at Octopus EV
wants to help to make the switch to EV
as easy as possible, for as many people
as possible.
CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles,
Fiona Howarth says: “For us, the EV
journey begins long before we start
talking about leasing options and
charge point installation. There’s a big
education job to do - many people still
believe that they’ll need to stop every
few miles to recharge and that the
range of models is limited. Our Drive
Day roadshow has proved enormously
popular, touring the country and
letting people come and see the cars
for themselves, as well as question EV
experts about exactly how it all works”
These events have not only
demonstrated the massive leap forward
that the industry has taken in the past
few years, but also provided people
with a chance to test drive the latest
models. From the sporty BMW i3 to
the family friendly Nissan LEAF, the
cars have been carefully selected as the
best EVs on the market, with each
offering at least 150 miles of driving
per charge.
Continues Howarth: “We’ve found that
people are often surprised at what an
electric car can do. I think there’s a
general misconception that the
technology and the pricing has stayed
largely the same since EVs came to
market a few years ago, whereas in fact
today’s electric car is almost
unrecognisable from its older
incarnation, and a hell of a lot cheaper.
Battery costs came down 80% in six
years – unlocking a better range of
electric vehicles at a fraction of the
cost.”
Fiona Howarth
CEO
Octopus Electric Vehicles
All-in-one EV solution
After education, the challenge has been
how to best help customers with the
changes needed to go electric. Here,
Octopus Electric Vehicles is pioneering
adoption with their ‘EV bundle’.
“We’re offering the electric vehicle
equivalent of Sweden’s famous baby
box, giving the driver everything they
need to make the switch” says Howarth
“and unlike babies, our vehicles come
with instructions!”
April 2019
35