Peterborough-based Smart Home Charge has seen enquiries for home charge point installations for electric cars increase by more than 300% between Q3 and Q4.

The rapid growth mirrors increasing interest and sales of electric cars. Although electric cars account for just 3% of the total car market right now, this is more than double compared to the same time last year.

Smart Home Charge, based in Lynch Wood, Peterborough, launched in 2018 and installs electric car chargers for the home across the UK. It was also the first website to compare a range of home charge points so customers could choose the ideal device for their car, home and budget.

In the space of three months, Smart Home Charge has seen requests for charge point installations increase by more than 300% while the number of users on the website has increased by over 800% since June 2019.

Founder and managing director Graham Warby said the growth in the electric vehicle market had been unprecedented but not surprising:

“It’s been a fantastic few months for us in terms of installations and electric cars in general. New cars such as the Tesla Model 3 and MG ZS EV have helped propel electric cars into the mainstream and that’s had a positive knock-on effect for us.”

The key to Smart Home Charge’s success according to Graham has been its ability to simplify electric car charging for customers.

“We recognised the electric car market would expand rapidly but we also could see that it was confusing to potential new customers. Our in-house editorial team create regular content, such as guides and video tutorials, to help demystify the world of electric cars.

“Our online platform was built from the ground up to make the installation process simple and the business scalable. For example, our online platform allows customers to create their own installation video surveys to get an accurate quote upfront, as well as track their engineer and be updated at every stage of installation.

“We also manage the customer’s application for the Government OLEV Grant. This £500 contribution from the Government has been crucial in making home charge points more affordable, and our system ensures the customer application is simple, quick and can be completed online using a smartphone.”