The transition to electric vehicles for commercial fleets is often touted as a straightforward path to sustainability and cost savings. But behind the scenes, the logistics of charging and reimbursement have been a messy, spreadsheet-driven nightmare. UK startup Rightcharge is tackling this head-on, announcing a £1.6 million seed funding round to scale its automated EV fleet payments solution across Europe.
The investment, led by Soulmates Ventures with participation from Blackwood, Unruly, and Purple Ventures, comes as Rightcharge reports over 10x ARR growth this year. The company already counts major UK fleets, including The Automobile Association (AA), among its customers, demonstrating a clear demand for its service.
The core problem Rightcharge addresses is deceptively simple: how do you accurately pay drivers for charging their company EVs at home? Current systems, often designed for fossil fuel expenses, are ill-equipped for the complexities of varying electricity tariffs and home energy accounts. This forces fleet managers into manual, error-prone processes, leading to potential fraud and, crucially, pushing companies towards far more expensive public charging options – sometimes ten times the cost of home charging. This inefficiency is a significant drag on fleet electrification efforts.
Rightcharge’s platform cuts through this complexity by linking directly to a driver’s home energy account. This ensures reimbursements are precise, even as tariffs fluctuate, and are credited directly to their energy bill rather than a bank account, creating a clear audit trail and reducing fraud risk. The system also applies AI-powered validation to fleet vehicle charging data and consolidates all costs – including public charging via its integrated card – into a single, HMRC-compliant monthly bill. The result? Fleets using Rightcharge report up to 90% savings on charging costs and a 30% reduction in carbon emissions. The AA, for instance, has seen over £1,000 per vehicle per year in savings.
Unlocking Europe's EV Fleet Potential
"We’re building the payments infrastructure that will make EV charging effortless for fleets," said Charlie Cook, Founder and CEO of Rightcharge. "The home is the quiet giant of electrification. Accurate, automated payments give businesses confidence to electrify faster, while cutting costs and carbon."
The new funding will fuel Rightcharge’s aggressive expansion into Europe, a market ripe for disruption. A strategic partnership with Octopus Electroverse will see Rightcharge’s home payments solution white-labeled and rolled out in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, and Ireland. Soulmates Ventures' Hynek Sochor noted the immense opportunity, highlighting that in Germany alone, 80% of new high-end cars are company vehicles. Rightcharge aims to serve at least 10 million of the estimated 100 million drivers globally who will require home charging reimbursement for work vehicles by 2035. This move positions Rightcharge as a critical enabler for the continent's accelerating EV transition.
