Our north star and the road ahead

By Gurjeet Grewal, our CEO

Our company is our people. Each of our stories and experiences shape us as a collective.

I grew up between continents - born in London, spending my early childhood in Rwanda, and regularly travelling to see family across East Africa. That exposure to different cultures gave me a natural curiosity about people, and how we are all joined by a simple truth; when our problems are solved, life becomes better. 

My family were entrepreneurs, with businesses ranging from sugar factories to timber export. Though my education led me down a more traditional path - financial services and then investment management - that entrepreneurial spirit remained.

It was only when I swapped corporate life for the finite reality of small, hungry startups that everything clicked. I went from travelling the world and deploying billions to sitting in gritty co-working spaces, earning a fraction of my previous salary, with every small decision having a profound consequence. 

When you’re debating the affordability of a second desk, you learn that a business only succeeds if it has absolute clarity on the problem it is solving. Even if it doesn’t have all the answers, clarity of purpose is what matters in the end.

Nearly eight years after helping to start Octopus EV, that purpose remains our north star. How do we make it as easy as possible for people to switch to electric vehicles? When we focus on solving our customers’ problems, growth naturally follows.

It’s an amazing time to be in the EV space. When we started in 2018, EVs were still a bit of a niche choice. Today, the case for switching is stronger than ever and we estimate that by around 2039, there’ll be more EVs on the road than petrol. (Here’s the maths on that.)

The government has shown clear and continued commitment, notably by extending the EV Grant, protecting the core benefits of the salary sacrifice scheme, and committing to more investment in charging infrastructure. 

At the same time, we are seeing more EV manufacturers bring their innovations to market, at increasingly competitive prices. And the technology keeps getting better: longer ranges, smarter software, faster charging. 

When you factor in the tax savings with salary sacrifice, leasing discounts, charging tariffs versus petrol, and a growing second-hand market, EVs are often the cheaper alternative.

When you can tell a customer they can drive a better, cleaner car for the same or less money than they pay now, the conversation moves from if they should switch, to how quickly. That’s what we’re here to help with. 

From the very beginning, we’ve hired intentionally. We don’t want people who measure growth simply in numbers and charts. Instead, we look for smart, curious people who care deeply about solving customer problems. That it is a never-ending journey. There’s always something to improve. 

Then, we let them get on with it. Teams hire the people they want to work with, making everyone a steward of our culture. Individuals set their own priorities. And everything is ultimately directed towards our customer-facing teams. It’s the job of everyone else in our business - whether in technology, finance, or leadership - to enable our customer teams to do their jobs brilliantly and with passion. It’s something we borrowed from our colleagues at Octopus Energy - first, look after the people who look after our customers.

The recent Budget delivered strong reassurances. As many of us anticipated, the Government wants to press ahead with a new mileage-based road charge for EVs. Starting in April 2028, fully electric cars will be charged 3p per mile.

I support the principle that all road users must contribute to the maintenance of our infrastructure. However, I will admit to being cautious about the timing of the new tax. It’s designed to replace falling fuel duty revenues, yet only 5% of cars on UK roads are EVs. It will make more sense after more years of growth.

Despite this new cost, we must keep sight of the bigger picture. Today there are over 1.7 million EVs on UK roads. Government initiatives have helped, but the industry is beginning to stand on its own two feet. More choice, better cars, more quality, lower prices, more chargers, more efficient charging…more reasons to make the switch than ever before. 

EVs are right for a very high proportion of the population. Our job is to give more people the opportunity to prove that to themselves. As we continue to grow, you’ll see us move beyond only offering long-term leases, thinking creatively about how we can get people behind the wheel to try out cars and see how good the technology and the driving experience really are. 

When someone gets in an EV and sees how easy and fun it is, the rest falls into place.

We’re also taking that message beyond the UK. We’ve recently launched in Germany. It’s a huge market, with strong policy momentum and a large existing Octopus Energy customer base, a natural next step for us. We have the acorns of an amazing team on the ground, ready to help German drivers make the switch. Further international expansion is definitely on the horizon. 

We’ll also roll out a wider selection of charging bundles to cater to drivers who charge at home and use public too. And we’ll continue to develop ground-breaking partnerships with car manufacturers that let drivers use energy in clever ways.

Wherever we go, our core mission will remain unchanged: solve the problem, look after the customer, and make the EV transition a joyful one.