Octopus COPs £500m financing boost for electric vehicles arm

The electric vehicle-leasing business which forms part of the same group as Britain's biggest household energy supplier will on Friday announce a £500m extension to its financing war chest.

Sky News has learnt that Octopus Electric Vehicles (Octopus EV) has struck a deal with lenders including Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley, and Credit Agricole to take its total funding line to £2bn. The additional financing paves the way for the expansion of the company's UK fleet from 40,000 to 75,000 cars, and is an extension to a facility agreed with Lloyds in 2023.

Sources said a public announcement would be made at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil. Last month, EVs accounted for 26% of all new cars in the UK, a record figure, while across Europe, more than 1.7 million EVs were registered in September - a 19% jump from the same month last year.

Octopus EV offers an all-in-one package comprising a leased car, bespoke EV tariffs, home chargers and access to Electroverse, which it describes as Europe's largest public charging network. "Electric momentum is surging across the UK and Europe," said Gurjeet Grewal, CEO of Octopus EV.

"Every month, thousands more drivers are discovering just how affordable and enjoyable making the switch can be - and this fresh funding from Lloyds, Morgan Stanley and Crédit Agricole will allow us to bring even more zero-emission cars onto UK roads." Keir Mather, Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation, said the government had "helped over 30,000 people go electric thanks to our electric car grant since we launched it this summer, saving them cash with discounts of up to £3,750 on new EVs". "We're backing people and industry to make the switch with £4.5bn investment, and it's great to see industry players like Octopus backing the EV revolution and getting more electric cars out on our roads," Mr Mather added.

Read more:Government announces new electric car grants of up to £3,750'Best month ever' for UK battery electric vehicle sales The minister's comments come, however, amid speculation about a pay-per-mile levy on electric car drivers in Rachel Reeves's budget later this month. Octopus's EV arm also specialises in salary sacrifice schemes, which the chancellor is also reportedly planning to target by reducing or removing tax incentives..