Zoopla adds EV charge points to property search tool

Property service Zoopla has teamed up with Vauxhall to help house-hunters find properties with EV charge points.

The industry-first partnership allows buyers and renters to filter properties with private home charging or to find the nearest on-street chargers to a property.

The move comes after Vauxhall research found 40% of UK drivers said proximity to a charge point would be an influential factor the next time, jumping to 87% among existing EV owners. A third of drivers said that lack of accessible charging would actually put them off a property.

The tie-up is part of Vauxhall’s wider Electric Streets campaign – an ongoing project to identify and support the areas most in need of shared on-street charging. With around 40% of households lacking a driveway, accessible and affordable public charging is seen as vital to helping them transition to electric cars.

The Zoopla website and app will now display the closest on-street charge points to an individual property in a similar way to its existing tools for schools and train station. The data is drawn from map and location data supplied by Octopus Electroverse.

House hunters will also be able to filter searches to only show properties with their own home charging wallboxes.

Steve Catlin, managing director of Vauxhall, noted: “Moving house is one of the biggest decisions most of us make in our lifetime, and anyone who’s done it knows how much effort can go into finding the perfect home. As EVs become an even more common sight on our roads, more and more people will be prioritising charging access when thinking about where to live.

“Vauxhall is absolutely committed to electrifying Britain, so, as a leader in the property industry, Zoopla was the perfect partner to help drivers find a new home that will allow them to charge EVs with ease. Whether charging at home or on-street, we hope the features we have worked with Zoopla to introduce go some way to make decisions around buying and renting a new home that little bit easier for millions across the country.”

Daniel Copley, consumer expert at Zoopla added: “We’re proud to be the first property website to offer consumers the ability to find the nearest on-street chargers to a property, and filter properties with home-charging.

“Buyer requirements are constantly evolving as a result of factors like lifestyle changes and commuting patterns. By improving Zoopla’s search functionality, our aim is that we will empower more confident moving decisions, particularly for current and future EV owners.”

Vauxhall’s research found that 54% of drivers said tools identifying and filtering for EV chargers would be useful on property sites. However, according to Zoopla just 1.6% of listings specifically mention charging, leaving plenty of scope for improvement.