Fleetboost is available through the Octopus Fleet platform and enables businesses signing up to the scheme to cut their charging bills by up to 30 percent, meaning savings of up to £370 per vehicle per year, based on the FleetBoost monthly subscription fee, assuming a vehicle efficiency of 0.3 kWh per mile, and on a fleet vehicle travelling 15,000 miles per year.
The new scheme also aims to make it easier for drivers to find a charger when they are out and about, given that one of the biggest practical headaches for drivers is finding a suitable charger when on the road. Analysis of UK areas covered by FleetBoost shows 99 percent are within 14 miles of an eligible charger, while 95 percent are within 9 miles.
Three major charge point operators (CPOs) – MFG EV Power, IONITY and Be.EV – have already joined FleetBoost, giving drivers access to thousands of public chargers across the UK.
Octopus Fleet is a management service that helps businesses across the UK and 13 European countries manage the transition from petrol and diesel to electric vehicles. It combines technology, payments and charging solutions in one place, including automated home charging reimbursement, public charging and a Visa-backed Fleet Card for mixed fleets. Reviews of the service on TrustPilot show 4.8 out of a maximum of 5 rating.
However, employer risk protection only activates three months after the beginning of a lease, with the business remaining financially liable for the lease if an employee leaves the company or encounters unforeseen circumstances in the opening weeks.
The deepest savings rely on employees utilising Octopus’s own proprietary home energy tariffs (like Intelligent Octopus Go), which has been criticised as being restrictive if drivers prefer not to switch their home energy provider.
Some criticisms on Reddit focus on the drivers who have faced steep end-of-lease refurbishment fees for minor cosmetic vehicle damage, while other criticisms point at poor service and lengthy vehicle downtime when third-party fleet managers or repair networks caused logistical confusion.
Reviews of Octopus Electroverse are also generally positive. The platform gives drivers access to more than 1.5 million public charge points worldwide from over 1,600 brands across 40 countries, through a single app and card. This avoids the necessity of juggling with multiple apps. Users can also roll the public charging costs straight into their monthly direct debit.
A downside though is that there is no dedicated customer service line – communication is solely through email or online chat. Some drivers have also reported connectivity problems, although these seem to be mostly rare occurrences.
“We know that switching a fleet to electric is about much more than putting an EV on the road – businesses need charging to be affordable, reliable and easy for drivers to use, and we’re tackling this all in one go” said Matt Davies, Founder of Octopus Fleet. “By bringing together some of the UK's biggest charging brands, we can help accelerate the transition to commercial EVs and slash the cost of public charging for businesses.”
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