UK's Octopus to lease out China's Omoda EVs, offer charging services

By Nick Carey

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Octopus Energy will lease out electric vehicles from Chinese automaker Chery's Omoda brand and offer low-cost charging rates and charger installation, among other services, the two companies said on Tuesday.

Octopus already leases out more than 15,000 EVs via its Octopus EV unit, offering vehicles from a variety of automakers including China's BYD and Tesla.

Chery recently launched sales of its Omoda 5 SUV in Spain as part of its plans to sell its Omoda and Jaecoo brands across Europe, one of a number of Chinese automakers targeting European customers.

The Omoda 5 will go on sale in the UK next month in both an electric and petrol version, with a hybrid option coming later this year. That will be followed by three more Omoda models and four Jaecoo models over the next two to three years, said Victor Zhang, Omoda's executive vice president in the UK.

Zhang said the electric versions of those models would likely be part of the same strategic partnership with Octopus, which would help introduce British EV buyers to brands they have never heard of.

Via Octopus' Kraken technology platform - which automatically sets charging schedules for EVs overnight when energy is cheapest - Omoda buyers could shave 500 pounds ($624) off their annual charging bills, which Octopus EV CEO Fiona Howarth told Reuters would cut their charging costs 65%.

She said Chery is the first automaker to take advantage of Octopus' full range of EV services, which include an app that gives customers access to 650,000 EV chargers across Europe.

"This just showcases what we can do to make everything as easy as possible for EV owners," Howarth said.

($1 = 0.8014 pounds)

(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Susan Fenton)