Octopus Energy has launched Octopus Charge in the US, Canada and Mexico, aggregating more than 210,000 chargers from over 20 networks with no markup on energy prices. Its European equivalent covers 1.5 million chargers across more than 40 countries.
A British energy company has put more than 210,000 North American chargers behind a single login. Octopus Energy’s new Octopus Charge app covers the United States, Canada and Mexico, with one payment method for every network it supports.
The commercial promise is that it takes nothing. Octopus says it passes each operator’s own per-kWh price through untouched, so a stall charging $0.50 costs $0.50 in the app.
The interesting figure is the one from home. Octopus Electroverse, the European original launched in 2020, reaches roughly 1.5 million chargers across more than 1,500 networks in over 40 countries.
The American version has around two dozen networks. That gap is not a failure of engineering, it is a description of two different markets, one of which had the charging chaos legislated out of it.
Europe made access a legal requirement rather than a commercial favour. Under EU rules in force since April 2024, new public charging points must take card or contactless payment, and prices have to be shown clearly before a session begins.
North America has no equivalent, so the largest operators can simply decline. Tesla Superchargers, Ionna and Electrify America are all missing from the app, which is most of what an American road trip runs on.
What did join is still substantial. Octopus lists more than 20 partners including EVgo, ChargePoint, Blink, bp pulse, Shell Recharge, FLO and Circle K.
Car makers are attempting the same trick from a narrower angle. General Motors aggregates networks inside its own brand apps, but only for General Motors vehicles, while Octopus Charge will work with any electric car.
The company frames it as friction removal rather than market building. Octopus Energy US head of product Sebastian Blake says the aim is to help drivers “spend less time managing charging and more time enjoying the drive.”
Europe is meanwhile consolidating from the other end. Electroverse passed a million registered drivers in July, and smaller operators keep raising money to grow European networks that plug into the same roaming layer.
The comparison is worth keeping in mind next time European charging gets criticised. A driver in Rotterdam needs one app and a bank card, and a driver in Texas still needs several.
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