Free EV charging network to close after five years of service

A free-to-use charging network is set to close at the end of the month after operating for over five years.

Source East Network was set up in the East of England in 2011 and run by EValu8 as part of the government scheme - Plugged-in Places.

The network has run longer than expected as part of the programme, but will now close on 31 March 2017.

Throughout 2016, the network was working with ChargePoint Services Limited to migrate the network from being free to a more commercial network.

However, given the experimental nature, there have been a number of “legacy chargers which cannot be absorbed into the new network”.

According to Source East, this is because “a large part of the financial cost of running the network has fallen back onto EValu8 and UHV” which is “unsustainable”.

Charge points that have been upgraded by ChargePoint Services will be able to be accessed via the GeniePoint network using the same card on a new account.

Chargemaster’s Polar network also has a number of points that can be used by Source East members, and these will revert to access solely by Polar Plus subscribers and Polar Instant PAYG customers.