Mer enhances EV charging solutions offer across UK

This follows Mer’s recent acquisition of Elmtronics, the UK’s leading supplier and installer of EV charging points for workplaces and fleets, which will allow the company to spearhead the commercial sector’s transition to electrification and sustainable business. The acquisition allows Mer to unlock Elmtronics’ extensive expertise in commercial EV applications, with a 3,000-strong customer base built up over the last seven years.

Taking the first step this month, Mer is rebranding all Elmtronics charging stations and facilities, resulting in the company’s thousands of active charge points moving to the Mer charging network. This will enable Mer to expand its existing public and private EV charge point network with a particular focus on the fleet and workplace markets, which have become essential to its growth strategy in the UK.

Backed by Statkraft, Europe’s largest renewable energy producer, Mer’s mission is to make sustainable electric mobility easy and accessible for everyone. With foothold in five European countries, Mer operates currently more than 1.000 DC chargers and more than 19.000 AC chargers in Norway, Sweden, UK, Germany and Austria in total. 

Utilising a combined knowledge of back-office software, the acquisition will also bring significant investment in connectivity solutions. For example, Elmtronics’ charge point back-office network, Hubsta, is being upgraded to the Mer network to offer an improved user experience for commercial use. Currently, 15,000 drivers use the Hubsta network. The move will allow for further investment in the back-office software, drawing on the two companies’ expertise in driver and operator portals for commercial customers. New features including a booking system for drivers, charger load management and dedicated fleet management modules are planned. In addition, existing Hubsta users will now also have access to an additional 530 public EV charge points from Mer.

Long-term support for commercial customers remains a key focus for Mer, as the business continues to invest in the roll-out of new technologies, such as wireless and mobile charging, that will revolutionise EV fleets and workspaces and help them harness new opportunities within the rapidly-evolving industry.

“Over the last twelve months we have seen a 44% year-on-year growth in demand for charging infrastructure as the industry shifts to more sustainable practices,” continued Martin. “To be able to make the transition to EV fleets effectively, companies need the appropriate charging infrastructure. I believe that this acquisition provides us with enhanced expertise to directly address the key barriers in EV adoption and we look forward to driving this change.”

The acquisition of Elmtronics introduces Mer to an established portfolio of commercial customers including Asda, Fedex, Octopus Energy, BMW and the London Ambulance Service. The integration into Mer brings significant investment to the former Elmtronics operation, allowing the commercial charge point specialist to scale-up quickly and support more fleets and businesses to switch to EVs sooner. Since the acquisition the company has increased its headcount by 20% with more hiring underway.

Elmtronics will be renamed as Mer from April 25th 2022.