The electric vehicles arm of Octopus Energy’s parent company has secured a £150m funding boost to accelerate its growth amid soaring production of greener cars.
Sky News has learnt that the division has struck a deal with Pollen Street Capital, a private equity and credit firm, to provide financing to expand its salary sacrifice scheme.
The agreement takes the total sum raised by Octopus Electric Vehicles in the past two years to £650m.
Its salary sacrifice offer helps drivers save up to 40% every month on new electric cars, providing the vehicle, charger and a discounted energy tariff.
The company claimed on Monday that its vehicles were saving more than 32,000 tonnes of CO2 annually – the equivalent of removing more than 11,500 fossil fuel cars.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Its latest financing comes after a surge in EV production in the UK.
Fiona Howarth, CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles, said: “Drivers are increasingly seeing the benefits of switching out old gas-guzzlers for electric cars.
Average mortgage rate rises above 6% for two-year fixed deal
Vodafone chief executive says it is ‘very early’ to talk about job losses under Three merger
Harry and Meghan called ‘grifters’ by Spotify executive after podcast deal ends
“With demand soaring, we need manufacturers to continue to increase volumes.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
She added: “With this demand, the UK is ever more attractive for EV charging investment and a destination for new electric car brands.
Octopus EV, which has been working on the additional funding for several months, counts McLaren, Nando’s and the property portal Zoopla among its clients.
It said earlier this year that it had been adding roughly 85,000 employees to its potential customer base each quarter.
OEV’s competitors include the likes of Onto, Zenith and LeasePlan.
It recently launched Octopus Electric Vehicles in the US.
Octopus EV is a subsidiary of Octopus Energy Group, which has received more than $1bn in funding over the last two years, with its last round giving it a valuation of $5bn.
