This follows Mer’s recent acquisition of Elmtronics, UK 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’ 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 a 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’s 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.
“It’s great to see the integration of Elmtronics into Mer beginning to benefit customers,” said Dan Martin, Managing Director – fleet and workplace charging, Mer UK.
“As Mer, we will be offering our business customers more choice, a larger network and improved services. And we will continue to invest to further support commercial businesses looking to establish EV fleets in the UK.”
“Over the last twelve months we have seen a 44 percent 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.
Elmtronics has been renamed Mer since 25 April 2022.