Eco-tech expert Hive has partnered with Zapmap to enable simpler and cheaper at-home and on-the-road charging for EV drivers.

The partnership will explore bringing together the Hive app and Zapmap’s digital platform to offer further customer benefits

The collaboration will initially kick off by offering new Hive EV customers will receive £20 of charging credit to use at Zap-Pay enabled EV chargers across the UK.

The companies will also work together to provide information and resources to support Hive customers in understanding and navigating public charging – with location information, detailed charging costs, and straightforward ‘how-to’ user guides.

Longer-term, the partnership will explore bringing together the Hive app and Zapmap’s digital platform to offer further customer benefits, including targeted end-to-end solutions for Hive customers to track their at-home and public charging within the Hive app and gain multiple ways to pay for public charging, whether through the Hive app, charge cards or even via their household energy bills.

Dan Rosenfield, managing director of Hive, commented: “We’re on a mission to help make EV charging simple and affordable. Through our strategic partnership with Zapmap and our investments in the Hive app, we are empowering EV drivers to have complete control over their electric driving experience.”

Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and COO of Zapmap, picked up: “Hive customers can enjoy the benefits of EVs, stress-free, and we’re really excited to continue to expand the service to give them access to the best-priced charging, within the simplest experience, across the broadest range of locations.”

The announcement coincides with the one-year anniversary of the launch of FreeCharge, with the business offering 12 months’ free charging with the purchase of every Hive EV charger. Since its introduction, this has seen Hive give away the equivalent of 15 million miles of electric charging to its customers.

SmartCharge is also available to customers through the Hive app, with users benefiting from a 4p/kWh saving on all their EV charging; automatically credited to their energy bill each month. SmartCharge automatically charges an EV when energy is at its cheapest during that charging session.