Kia Charge has been awarded the ‘Best Eco Car App’ trophy in the inaugural Marie Claire Sustainability Awards. Kia Charge is a new service from Kia UK Limited which provides easier access to the UK’s growing electric vehicle public charging network.
The awards recognise and celebrate brands that acknowledge their environmental and ethical responsibilities and are putting action at the forefront of their business. Winners were announced at a carbon-neutral virtual awards event. Andrea Thompson, Marie Claire Editor in Chief, said: “These awards are about recognising the brands taking steps towards limiting their environmental impact and also empowering our audience to make more sustainable choices.”
Judging was conducted by a panel of 40 world-leading experts and thought leaders in sustainability. Judges used a criteria to choose the winners including sustainable innovation, uniqueness in the market, environmental accreditations and end-to-end sustainable practices and methods.
Kia Charge was praised for providing a stress-free solution to anxiety around the availability of charging points, frequently cited as an obstacle to electric car ownership. Kia Charge is a UK and European-wide integrated public charging service, designed to give drivers easier access to public vehicle charging. The app consolidates multiple charging networks into one solution, giving Kia EV and PHEV drivers access to over 17,500 connectors in the UK– equivalent to 70 per cent of connectors available nationwide – and many more across 28 other European countries. The service allows users to start a charge via the app or by using a radio-frequency identification (RHID) card. Instead of numerous individual transactions charged by different charge point operators, payments are made via a single itemised monthly invoice.
Kia Charge also offers bolt-on access to the IONITY ultra-fast charging network. Thanks to Kia’s partnership with IONITY, this allows Kia Charge users to enjoy heavily discounted rapid charging on the IONITY network. The bolt-on costs £11.25 per month, and reduces the standard charging rate by 64 per cent, from 70p per kWh to just 25p per kWh. Recharging a 64kWh e-Niro or Soul from 10-to-80 per cent via an IONITY connector therefore costs just £11.20, compared to £31.85 without the bolt-on – a saving of more than £20. The £11.25-per-month bolt-on therefore pays for itself in a single charge.
Jean-Baptiste Merkel, Mobility and Electrification Manager at Kia UK Limited, commented on the award: “We are truly delighted to be recognised by Marie Claire for our innovative new app. Kia Charge addresses a critical problem, which was the fragmentation of – and therefore the difficulties of accessing – the public charging infrastructure. By having multiple networks consolidated within Kia Charge, customers can gain access to a vast number of charge points without resorting to using multiple apps and accounts to locate and use charging stations.”
