Workplace and Destination Charge

RAW Charging secure funding to become the UK’s leading infrastructure provider

Obstacles to leasing a new electric car are somewhat consistent - they are too expensive, their range is insufficient and there are not enough places to charge them. While the first two reasons for not buying / leasing an EV are adequately addressed within the e-car lease “living with your …” EV tools, the infrastructure improvements are something which do need significant investment and development as part of delivering a robust electric car, and van, experience for the UK’s fleet.

To help drivers, we do offer an integration with Zap Map  to ensure that the 20,336 locations (as at July 2022) are properly highlighted to customers. But with rapid growth in the EV sector, for both purchase and leasing, it is true that more is needed in order to keep the progress moving sustainably.

Who are the RAW Group?

RAW Charging are one of the largest UK electric vehicle charge point operators, with a focus on destination charging and they have been working with the e-car lease team for nearly 6 years. Unlike many companies, both our businesses were early-adopters for electric vehicles and this has helped our respective businesses to make a real difference in how this market evolved. RAW announced earlier this month that a successful growth capital fundraise, that will support its £250 million EV charger installation plan, was finally completed.

The raise was funded by Antin Infrastructure Partners (“Antin”), a leading private equity firm focused on infrastructure investments. The team at Antin are already involved with a host of energy and environmental organisations, with a clear focus on renewable energy creation, storage and delivery. For those of us involved in this industry, this confirms that investment will continue to bolster our growth and opportunities.

Rodolphe Brumm, NextGen Partner at Antin, said:

“This new investment signals Antin’s strong commitment to advancing the use of electric vehicles, thus contributing to reducing carbon emissions. We firmly believe, the private sector, alongside government, will play a key role in realising the UK’s ambitious electric vehicle infrastructure strategy, which includes the aim to reach 300,000 public EV charge points by 2030. We look forward to working with RAW’s management team to help transition the UK transport sector to low carbon by the decade’s end in line with our NextGen strategy.”

Bruce Galliford, CEO, RAW Charging, said:

“We are delighted and excited to have found the right partner in Antin for the next stage of our development. With the fantastic growth over the last four years, thanks to the hard work of the brilliant RAW team, it is perfect timing to move on to the next stage with Antin joining us on the journey. The market for destination charging is growing and supported by policy in both the UK and Europe. We believe our business model is perfectly placed to generate captive returns for our investors from a large portfolio of EV assets and we look forward to continuing to deliver on our growth plans.”

Why invest in commercial, workplace and public charge point destinations?

In the UK, to meet Government targets 100% of new vehicle registrations must be purely electric / battery by 2035.  To achieve full electrification, significant private and public infrastructure investment will be required. In March 2022, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) increased its forecasts for the share of EVs to 59% in 2026-27, up from 29% in its October 2021 outlook. This would put the UK on a similar path witnessed in Norway six years ago, which now has over 90% EV penetration. This rapid increase presents significant opportunities across the automotive services and technology industry, and the UK Government has set a target of 300,000 public charge points by 2030.

With an estimated 45% of drivers needing to charge their EVs away from home, EV charging infrastructure is a valuable amenity in futureproofing work leisure and domestic locations across the country. In order to meet the huge demand for public chargers, RAW is operating in the underserved, high-growth destination EV charging marketplace. 

The Company has established a network of EV charging infrastructure assets to enable EV drivers to charge their vehicles at their destinations, typically at workplace, leisure facility or transport hub carparks. The Group has a pipeline of 4,000 sites as it seeks to rapidly roll-out destination charging to meet the UK public’s needs.

What are RAW charging doing to ensure that there are now enough places to charge your electric car? 

2021 was a year of rapid growth for RAW as it delivered on its strategy of helping real estate owners with their EV charging requirements. The Company has recently won a number of major contracts with blue chip customers such as Greene King, for whom RAW is installing chargers across 800 pubs and hotels; McArthurGlen, where RAW is installing EV chargers at designer outlets; and Aviva Investors, for whom RAW is providing EV charging at 60 commercial property sites.

RAW has also recently acquired Franklin EV Limited, adding 128 EV charging points and a further 370 managed chargers to the RAW asset base, which is expected to reach over 1,000 charging points by December 2022.

RAW has grown rapidly as the need for EV charging solutions increases ahead of the 2030 deadline in the UK. The Company has a pipeline of over 4,000 sites and 40,000 chargers which it is seeking to rapidly install. The fundraise will enable RAW to continue this development as the Company partners with blue-chip customers, such as Aviva and Greene King, to provide destination charging for EV drivers.

How can RAW help you or your business to grow its charge points 

RAW is a leading supplier of electric vehicle charging infrastructure to many of the UK’s largest, industry leading property owners and organisations. Customers choose to work with RAW because of a holistic approach to matching the correct EV technology to the respective use cases at any given location. Despite what other providers may say it is not a case of ‘one size fits all’. In fact, RAW view each and every postcode as its own business case. For employer and companies with a focus on all-electric fleets and salary sacrifice schemes, this is a must to review.

For more information contact the RAW Charging Team