On the 2nd of September Original ADS and RAC were announced the winners of the Best Use of Technology category at the Motor Transport Awards with our pioneering Charge Pod solution. Following the victory of this prestigious title, we have since been interviewed by the Motor Transport magazine who have published an article written about our revolutionary EV charging system.
The article features the commercial director of Original ADS Lauren Saxton discussing the alternative solutions to using Charge Pod and highlights how all other potential solutions currently available on the market are problematic and do not meet the needs of fleet operators like the RAC. Whilst the RAC are the only breakdown assistance company in the UK equipped with this technology to ensure their position as being number one for EV breakdown assistance in the UK, Original ADS have global contacts across a broad range of fleet operators and have a proven ability to adapt to the needs of their customers and a strong emphasis has been made on the fact that Charge Pod is a development project and will be continually adapted to make sure that it is always suiting the changing needs of businesses operating the system. This is exemplified when Motor Transport highlight the fact that: “For the RAC, it now has a potential solution for its 13 million members that reduces carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions of fleets, helps to reduce range anxiety among EV drivers, and sets it apart from the competition”.
“An excellent, pragmatic solution that will clearly assist in the take-up of electric vehicles.”
The article moves on to highlight in the words of the RAC how Charge Pod has solved an increasingly prevalent issue for the RAC’s growing number of EV members and has fit perfectly into an existing business model for the mature vehicle breakdown market. The RAC’s EV director Sarah Winward-Kotecha emphasises that: “We’re the only major UK breakdown company to have this technology and, as we scale up over the next year, it will mean we’re in an excellent position to assist EV drivers who break down as a result of reaching a faulty charger or running out of charge”.
“Exceptional forward thinking.”
In the words of Motor Transport magazine, “its creation bowled over the judges” which illustrates the ingenuity of the Charge Pod system as well as the competence of the RAC to respond to changing customer demands:
One judge remarked that Charge Pod is: “An excellent, pragmatic solution that will clearly assist in the take-up of electric vehicles.”
Another commented that this technological development demonstrates: “Exceptional forward thinking. A life saver for motorists as we all get used to electric systems in cars. With charge points new to us all, this is good to know in the event of being caught out.”
A third described the following commercial benefits of the system: “It’s a great development and will benefit the RAC in the reduction of recovery vehicles required to collect dead vehicles and will assist in boosting the membership providing a true benefit.”
The Motor Transport Awards have for 35 years been seen as a benchmark for excellence among UK road transport fleet operators, vehicle manufacturers and other innovators, to have received feedback of this calibre is illustrative of engineering excellence which Charge Pod represents as well as the capability of Original ADS to design, develop and support a world-class product for an industry leading organisation.
The general consensus of Charge Pod was summarised during the announcement of the win when it was said that…
“It was comfortably the most ground-breaking of all the submissions”.
The full article published by the Motor Transport magazine can be found here: Motor Transport 22 November 2021 by Motor Transport – Issuu
More information about our Motor Transport Awards win can be found here: Motor Transport Awards Winners of the Best Use of Technology Category (originalads.co.uk)
To learn more about our award wins, see the following page: Awards News – Original ADS