OVO announces acquisition of 'all in one EV charging app' Bonnet

Published by

Peter Davison

OVO acquires Bonnet

Bristol-based independent energy supplier OVO has acquired public EV charging consumer app Bonnet.

The app brings together nationwide public charge point operators into one app and is one of the largest public charging consumer apps.

EV drivers have access to over 27,000 chargers at 7,000 locations and can locate, use and pay for public charge points without switching between different cards or logins using the app.

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The announcement follows recent news that OVO’s intelligent charging add-on for EV home charging – Charge Anytime – has saved customers more than £3 million since it launched earlier this year.

Powered by smart technology from Kaluza - OVO Group’s intelligent energy platform - the add-on works by automatically optimising cars to charge when emissions and prices are low.

The firm says the acquisition underlines OVO’s focus on developing new propositions to help accelerate the green transition and support customers on their journey to zero carbon living.

Mat Moakes, chief commercial officer at OVO, said: “Like Bonnet, we want to revolutionise the EV charging experience and take another step forward on our Path to Zero.

"Using innovative technology they’re connecting EV drivers to the best charging networks available and turning every charge point into an accessible and simple charger that any driver can use.

"By combining Bonnet’s cutting edge app and OVO’s experience and scale we will encourage more people to adopt electric vehicles and transition to a greener lifestyle.”

Patrick Reich, CEO and co-founder of Bonnet, said: “This is an exhilarating moment for Bonnet and our team. We have long admired OVO and what they’ve been doing to make owning an EV as easy as possible.

"At Bonnet, we share this mission, and since we launched in 2021 we’ve made charging publicly across the UK and Europe simpler and more reliable for our more than 150,000 engaged drivers and their families.

“Our driver community has always been at the heart of every move we’ve made – from product updates to our strategic direction – and we know partnering with OVO is going to unlock new opportunities, such as new features and integrations to people’s homes.

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“By being part of OVO, as one of the UK’s leading energy companies, we can now fully double-down on our ambitions for growth and seize new opportunities to help EV drivers, building into the entire driver journey – whether at home or away.”

Bonnet was founded by Patrick and Eliot Makabu, who came up with the idea of an 'all in one' app for EV charging while studying electrical engineering together in London.

Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country. An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts. Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.