Launched in June 2014, Zap-Map.com is a website dedicated to all aspects of electric vehicles and charging. With the choice of EVs and charging point infrastructure growing rapidly, our aim is to provide current and prospective EV owners with clear, current information, enabling more people to make informed choices and obtain the benefits of driving electric.

In March 2015, Zap-Map was launched as an iOS and Android app offering EV drivers a way of easily locating charge points on the move.
In November 2015 Zap-Map 3.0 was released on the website. The updated map includes new community features (Zap-Chat), improved route-planning and advanced filters to make finding and using charging points around the UK easier for EV drivers.
The new features were extended to the Zap-Map iOS app in mid-December 2015 and the Android app in February 2016.

CHARGE POINT MAP AND DATA
At the heart of the site and accessible from every page the charging point map shows publicly accessible charging points across the UK.

The Zap-Map data is derived from various public sources and contributions including a data feed from the National Charge Point Registry (NCR), some points from OpenChargeMap.org (OCM), dealership groups, branded networks and independent locations and updated on a regular basis. See Data Licensing for more about how we source and update the Zap-Map data.

Whilst the objective is to have every publicly available point listed, given the changeable and fragmented nature of the market, maintaining an accurate database is challenging; feedback from users is critical to keep the data as up to date as possible. With the new feedback features, users can now add a new charge point or provide updates to existing points.

All information entered will be reviewed by the data manager before going live on the site. By providing Zap-Map with information contributors confirm that the data is originated by them and agree to the terms and conditions.

SEARCH TOOLS
Using the search tools, users can find charge points by location, charge type, connector or EV model. Search results can either be viewed as a list, which then links through to a page for each charge point location, or displayed on the map.

The unique EV Connector Selector identifies which charge point types are compatible with which electric vehicle.

CHARGE POINT INFO
With so many new and technical terms relating to charge points, it can be a confusing topic; the charge point section aims to provide clear explanations of charge point types, networks and how to obtain a charging point for home or work.

VEHICLES
Making the decision to go electric requires some careful consideration; this section covers the different technologies, practical issues to think about, the tax and grant benefits available and provides a list of electric vehicles available to buy now.

NEWS AND COMMUNITY
EV drivers and enthusiasts can keep up to date with the latest news, user stories and events in the EV and charging point world by signing up to the weekly newsletter.

OTHER PROJECTS
Zap-Map.com is developed by Next Green Car Ltd, an independent company developing data and digital solutions in the automotive sector from an environmental angle. In addition to Zap-Map, Next Green Car runs and operates www.nextgreencar.com, the UK’s no.1 green car website.

In September 2014, Next Green Car Ltd was awarded the contract to take over management of the National Charge Point Registry (NCR) on behalf of the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).

Next Green Car is responsible for managing the NCR and overseeing the next phase of development of the UK’s official database of electric vehicle (EV) charging locations. The objectives of the development are to improve data quality as well as data coverage. The new NCR was released in April 2015.

The NCR, which was established by the UK Government in 2011 to provide a publicly available database of charge points, has already played a key role in supporting the development of the UK EV market. Its continuation and improvement is, therefore, highly important in increasing the UK adoption of electric vehicles.

If you want to find out information about uploading charge point data or downloading the data set, please go the National Charge Point Registry website.