Payment card company Visa has announced a new partnership with JustCharge, to help make renting a private charge point simpler. 

Under the partnership, Visa customers using JustCharge will receive rewards when they pay using their debit or credit card.

JustCharge enables anyone with a private charger installed at their home or business premises to rent it out to other drivers when not in use via an app. Research by JustPark shows that if just five per cent of households with a home charger joined its community charging network, this would double the number of charging locations available in the UK.

According to research by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), most new electric owners charge at home. However, more than half of British households have no designated off-street parking, creating a national divide in the viability of ownership. 

The same report states the problem is particularly acute in the north of England, where the ratio of electric vehicles to charging points now stands at 52:1, compared to 30:1 in the south. 

JustCharge is operated by JustPark, an online driveway sharing platform, which currently connects five million drivers with over 45,000 private driveways, parking spaces, garages and other locations every year. 

Mike Strahlman, Director of EV at JustPark said:“We must collectively find solutions to help millions of British households transition to clean-air vehicles. While EV demand is growing dramatically, public charging infrastructure is falling significantly behind. Unlocking thousands of home chargers during the 90 per cent of the day they are not in use makes EV adoption a possibility for more than 50 per cent of British households without access to designated off-street parking. This partnership with Visa is a landmark moment in our efforts to redress the balance and make EV adoption an effortless, viable and cost-effective solution for millions more UK drivers.”

Sharing private chargers could make electric car ownership viable for thousands more motorists