Ford to partner with Octopus Electroverse

Ford has announced plans to integrate its Blue Oval Charge Network with Octopus Electroverse, one of Europe's largest charging public charging networks. The move will greatly expand access to chargers while maintaining existing benefits for Ford customers.

The integration is seemingly extensive enough to warrant a slight rebrand for Ford’s charging offering, which will now be known as BlueOval Charge Network x Octopus Electroverse moving forward. From October, Ford EV customers will be able to download the Electroverse app to their Android or iPhone device, connect their Ford account, and gain access to over one million public chargers on the Electroverse network. This aggregates a total of 1,200 public charging networks across Europe from providers like Ionity, Fastned, Allego, InstaVolt and many more.

After connecting a Ford account, the Electroverse app can be used to not only view and book charge points but also plan routes, check pricing, and integrate this with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Additionally, users will be offered a three-month trial to IONITY Premium, as well as the option of integrating their public charging payment with their home energy billing. Besides all this, business customers of Ford will also be offered three months of free access to the Octopus Fleet portal, which offers fleet charging management tools for EVs.

For some time, BlueOval has operated as an integrated charging network, meaning it allows its users access to charge point operators running their own charging hubs. It has mostly been active in North America, where it has given Ford EV customers access to the likes of Ford Charge, Tesla Supercharger, Shell Recharge and other CPOs. Electroverse behaves in much the same way in Europe, but with a much greater number of CPOs.

So, giving Ford customers access to Electroverse enables Ford to provide more comprehensive charging support in both continents. Other automakers, including Nissan, have similarly integrated Electroverse into their own charging offerings.

Matt Davies, director of Octopus Electroverse, commented: “Public charging for EVs doesn’t have to be complicated, and we love showing drivers just how easy topping up on the go can be. Thanks to our partnership with Ford, we’re able to give even more drivers more freedom and confidence over how, when, and where they charge and it’s fantastic working on this together.”

ford.com