Octopus Electroverse and Freenow by Lyft partnership saves UK cabbies over £1,000 annually

A new partnership between Octopus Electroverse and Freenow by Lyft will provide discounted public charging to taxi drivers and fleet operators across 180 cities in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Greece.

Octopus Electroverse is Europe’s largest EV charging network, while Freenow by Lyft is a taxi booking platform.

In the case of the UK, the savings made on the back of the tie-up mean taxi drivers are to cut their public charging bills by 40% – the equivalent of around £1,100 a year. To activate the discounts, all the driver needs to do is link their Freenow account directly to the Electroverse charging service.

Fleet operators are also being targeted as part of the deal. Those who sign up to the partnership will get the first two months of Electroverse’s charging subscription at no additional cost, and unlock discounted tariffs and commercial offers from Charge Point Operators (CPOs), including Ionity, Osprey, and Powerdot.

As well as cut-price charging rates, Electroverse already provides over a million motorists in Europe with single-tap payment access to around 80% of public EV chargers. Like Polestar Charge or the Tesla Supercharger network, Electroverse aggregates multiple CPOs into a single app, reducing the need for drivers to use multiple apps or payment methods.

The Electroverse app also includes route-planning tools, a real-time charge-point map and availability information, plus in-vehicle integration with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The Octopus Electroverse / Freenow by Lyft partnership was created to give taxi drivers and fleet operators access to reliable, affordable EV charging – an increasing issue as EV registrations across the UK are closing in at almost one every minute.

“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,” commented Matt Davies, the 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.

“And with their drivers spending so much of their day 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, the chief strategy officer at Freenow by Lyft added: “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.

“By making the transition to electric vehicles more financially appealing, we hope to encourage more drivers to make the switch, supporting cities in reducing emissions and accelerating their journey toward climate-neutral, fully electrified transport systems.”