Octopus Electroverse announced a new partnership with taxi booking platform Freenow by Lyft that’ll provide discounted public charging to taxi drivers and fleet operators across 180 cities in seven European countries.
The collaboration covers the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Greece.
UK taxi drivers will cut their public charging bills by 40% through the partnership – saving around £1,100 annually. Drivers activate the discounts by linking their Freenow account directly to the Electroverse charging service.
Fleet operators get additional benefits beyond individual drivers.
Those signing up receive the first two months of Electroverse’s charging subscription at no cost. They also unlock discounted tariffs and commercial offers from Charge Point Operators including Ionity, Osprey, and Powerdot.
Octopus Electroverse operates Europe’s largest EV charging network, serving over a million motorists with single-tap payment access to around 80% of public chargers. The service aggregates multiple charging networks into one app – similar to how Polestar Charge or Tesla’s Supercharger network work.
The Electroverse app includes route-planning tools and real-time charge-point availability information. It integrates with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for in-vehicle use.
Supporting EV Adoption in Commercial Transport
The partnership targets growing demand as EV registrations across the UK approach almost one every minute, according to industry reports.
“Electroverse has already helped drive down charging costs for more than a million drivers and paved the way in making public charging simpler and cheaper,” said Matt Davies, founder and director of Octopus Electroverse. “Our partnership with Freenow by Lyft is particularly exciting as it brings even more discounts to such an important sector.”
Davies highlighted the specific benefits for professional drivers who spend significant time on the road.
“Being able to help them find chargers quickly and charge affordably is fantastic – and who doesn’t love snapping up savings of over 40%?”
Felix Brand, chief strategy officer at Freenow by Lyft, emphasized the partnership’s role in supporting fleet electrification.
“We are incredibly happy about our partnership with Octopus Electroverse. This is a significant step in supporting our thousands of EV drivers and fleet operators by directly tackling one of their daily operational costs.”
The initiative aims to make electric vehicle transitions more financially appealing for commercial operators. Brand noted the partnership supports cities in reducing emissions and accelerating progress toward climate-neutral transport systems.
Taxi and ride-hailing drivers face unique charging challenges compared to private vehicle owners – including higher daily mileage requirements and limited access to home charging solutions.
