Select Car Leasing partners with Zap-Map for enjoyable EV driving

The Zap-Map app lets users search for available EV charge points while viewing live availability information. It also helps to plan journeys, pay for charging, and share updates with other EV drivers.

Now every customer that leases an electric vehicle with Select Car Leasing will automatically be handed three months free access to Zap-Map’s ‘Premium’ service.

Zap-Map’s top-rung Premium package boasts a number of enhanced features that users cannot access with the no-cost version of Zap-Map.

They include the ability to home-in on charge points using a variety of enhanced filters, such as ‘user rating’ and ‘multiple charger locations’, as well as adding unlimited vehicles to the app and saving unlimited route plans.

Even better, Zap-Map Premium users also enjoy in-car support, harnessed via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which means EV drivers can locate suitable charge points, view live charge point status, access route plans, and link to navigation apps for turn-by-turn directions – all whilst on the move. 

David Lewis, Head of Electric Vehicles & Energy at Select, says he’s delighted to partner with Zap-Map, a platform on a mission to “accelerate the shift to electric vehicles” and “help the drive towards zero carbon mobility”. 

Mr Lewis says: “Select Car Leasing is fully behind the electric revolution, as we help customers transition from traditionally fuelled cars and vans to electrified models, so we’re pleased to partner with a platform that really shares our ambitions.

“We want to make driving an EV not just accessible and attainable, but also enjoyable and hassle-free.

“And with Zap-Map, the stress of locating and paying for EV charging is completely erased.

“Zap-Map also has excellent green credentials, being backed by the Good Energy Group PLC, a 100% renewable electricity supplier and energy services provider.

“And that’s really important for us all here at Select, and it shows we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet when it comes to the progress towards zero carbon mobility.”

This month Select Car Leasing announced an expansion of its electric vehicle division, as interest in green transport continues to soar.

The number of specialist staff with a primary focus on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) has doubled.

Select has also expanded its dedicated ‘Electric Vehicles & Energy’ division, to ensure that all company departments, together with leasing consultants, are fully conversant with EVs, charging, electricity tariffs, home and workplace energy generation such as solar panels, and how all of these items work together to save customers money and reduce their carbon footprint.

Melanie Shufflebotham, Co-founder & COO at Zap-Map, adds: “I’m delighted to announce Zap-Map’s partnership with Select Car Leasing today. Leasing is a fantastic way to access an EV, so it’s great to see Select expanding its electric vehicle division. 

“EVs are really moving into the mass market now. With more and more drivers switching to an electric vehicle every month, all these new drivers will be looking for somewhere to charge, which is where Zap-Map comes in handy. Our focus is on making charging simple, and that’s exactly what this partnership between Select Car Leasing and Zap-Map helps to achieve.

“We know it can sometimes be hard to find suitable chargers while driving. By enabling access to Zap-Map within the in-car dashboard, our Premium offering makes driving an EV that much more enjoyable. Now Select Car Leasing customers will be able to view charge points, see live charge point status, access route plans, and link to a navigation app for turn-by-turn directions – all while on the move.”

Overall, Select’s pure-electric new car sales now account for around a quarter (25%) of all vehicle sales at the company.

Those reported sales are 75% ahead of the broader new car market, according to the latest SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) September data, with registrations for pure BEVs up 14.5% year to date in 2022.

Talking about the huge growth in EVs, Mr Lewis adds: “It’s clear that leasing and electric vehicles go hand-in-hand.”

The Select Electric division has also launched an innovative online fuel calculator, which compares the yearly cost of filling-up a petrol or diesel car with charging an EV.

The tool works out an instant price comparison depending on the user’s mileage. If you cover around 10,000 miles in a year, the tool suggests you could save in excess of £1,000 per year – based on charging your electric vehicle, at home, at the new 34p Energy Price Guarantee rate, compared with a typical petrol or diesel car with a fuel efficiency of around 40mpg.