Electric car charging point mapping company Zapmap, a subsidiary of Good Energy, has expanded into mainland Europe, helping EV drivers find charging points on the continent.

The map, which is already used by the drivers of around a million battery-electric vehicles in the UK (according to Zapmap data) to find charging points in the UK and Ireland, will now also show charging points in France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Zapmap has also confirmed plans to add EV chargers in other European countries, including Spain, Switzerland, Austria and Italy.

At this point, the map is only listing “selected” charging points outside the British Isles, targeting those with a power rating of 60kW or more. The system now maps more than 15,000 European charging locations, and Zapmap says it offers customers information on charging points and a variety of payment options. Later in 2024, the app will allow drivers to share their experiences of using different charging points on the European mainland with other electric vehicle (EV) drivers.

“I’m delighted to announce that we’ve taken our first step into mainland Europe,” said Zapmap’s commercial director Alex Earl. “Mapping charge points on the continent has been a frequent request from Zapmap users over the past few years.”

The company’s co-founder and COO, Melanie Shufflebotham, said almost a fifth of the app’s users (18 per cent) travel abroad, often to France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. “In the past year we’ve seen a 28 per cent increase in people travelling to mainland Europe in their EV,” she said.

Good Energy chief executive officer Nigel Pocklington said the announcement demonstrated the firm’s commitment to addressing the increasing demand for more accessible electric vehicle charging. “It also reinforces Good Energy’s goal of becoming a one-stop company for all clean energy services, delivering on our objective to support one million homes and businesses cut carbon from their energy and transport use by 2025.”

To date, the app has attracted more than 700,000 registered users.