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One Year As Mer – Our Journey Continues

Just over a year ago, in April 2021, we officially launched Mer in the UK!

one year as mer

Although we had operated in the UK – under the former name ‘Gronn Kontakt’ – since March 2020, our new brand better reflected our considerable European expertise and capabilities. 

We brought with us more than a decade’s worth of experience from operating in Norway – where the majority of new car sales are now electric – to help the UK make the transition to low-emission transport. 

Through hard work and a strong belief in our values, our nine-strong UK team has quickly grown to 30 employees in the London office. We’ve also stepped up our EV charging work across Norway, Germany and Sweden, all under the Mer brand. 

 

What does ‘Mer’ mean?

Mer’s name is inspired by our Norwegian heritage and our mission to do good in this world. We are owned by Statkraft – a Norwegian utility company and Europe’s largest renewable energy producer.

one year as mer

In Norwegian, Mer means ‘more’ – which fits with our vision to provide the world with more green energy, particularly clean energy, for the electric vehicles of the future. 

We strongly believe in our hopes for a greener, better tomorrow – but we are also led by the desire to find out more about our customers and their needs. 

We are always learning and always improving, so we can offer the highest quality and most straightforward EV charging experience possible. 

 

A Year as Mer

From our first year of operating in the UK, to our year now as Mer, we have achieved a lot.   

Our small team is inspired and motivated by our mission: to make electric vehicle charging easy and accessible to all.  

All across the UK now, our blue and turquoise chargers can be seen along the roadsides.  

We have charge points at business sites, key retail locations and destinations, and in areas managed by local authorities.

one year as mer

Not only have we re-branded our existing chargers – but we have also worked hard to boost the continuing development of the UK’s public EV charging infrastructure.  

Over the past 12 months, we have installed 315 charge points.  Additionally – to give drivers access to as wide a public network as possible – we have secured roaming partnerships with Allstar, NewMotion, Octopus Energy, Paua and ZapMap. 

And as well as expanding our public charging network as quickly as we can, we are constantly endeavouring to improve and develop our services.  

We have set up contactless payment options on most of our rapid public chargers – in addition to offering several other charging methods.  

These include payment via the Mer ‘Connect UK’ app; the driver portal (accessible via a web browser); payment using Mer charge cards; and also the option to pay through our roaming partners. 

We wholeheartedly believe that electric cars play a vital role in the solution to the world’s climate challenge – and that sustainability should be included in all future business strategies.  

The next step of our journey will see us furthering and improving our own sustainability goals. 

Most of all, we strive to continue working on our mission to provide the most customer-oriented EV charging experience possible, to everyone we work with. 

one year as mer

Investing in the UK’s EV charging infrastructure

We recently bought the County Durham-based company Elmtronics (who became part of Mer last month), an award-winning installer and supplier of electric vehicle charging equipment. 

By combining our expertise in public charging and theirs in workplace/fleet charging, this gives us a significantly stronger position in the UK market.  

We will continue to invest in public EV charging infrastructure by working with commercial landowners and local authorities to install the latest EV charger technology in convenient locations across the country. 

We are tackling today’s and tomorrow’s complex challenges by developing future-fit, intelligent solutions for a better tomorrow.  

It has been an exciting year. And it’s just getting started! 

 

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