The journey for EVs is just getting started, Robin Heap, Zest

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UKTN

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5 • 6 Ratings

🗓️ 4 August 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Robin Heap, founder and CEO of Zest, discusses how the cultural perception of electric vehicles has radically changed over the years, the massive growth in the UK electric car market and why the road to full electrification requires a great deal more effort from automotive firms, policymakers and consumers.

Zest is company specialising in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The firm installs, manages and maintains EV charge points on behalf of public and commercial landowners.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Around about a quarter of all vehicles sold so far in 2025 are full electric and then you can add on top of that quite a significant volume of plug in hybrid electric electric vehicles, which are really good stepping stone
0:22.6	adoption technologies.
0:24.6	We need to provide consumers with the confidence to buy those battery-related vehicles and that they can fulfil all of the operational duty cycles
0:33.6	that they may do in their standard day. And of course, we need to help overcome the less than 1% occasion
0:42.3	when someone's driving a car, they still only decide that they might want to drive
0:46.3	to around South of Italy on a Tuesday without planning.
0:53.3	Inherently, they want to drive something that's great, but also they want to be picked out in a crowd as being the odd one that's got an electric car.
1:00.0	And actually, now, as you said, you only really notice them when you're driving.
1:05.0	The point is you didn't notice them when you weren't driving an electric car, because they're just cars.
1:10.0	And they're really good cars.
1:14.6	From the first time founders to the funds that backed them, innovation needs different.
1:19.6	Our episode partner, HSBC Innovation Banking, is proud to accelerate growth for tech and life science businesses, creating meaningful connections
1:29.0	and opening up a world of opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors alike.
1:34.3	Discover more at www.h.hsbc InnovationBanking.com slash EN-GB.
1:45.1	Hello and welcome to the UKTM podcast, a weekly chat with the movers and shakers of the UK
1:50.7	tech industry and the destination for all things UK tech related.
1:55.1	I'm your host, Jane Wakefield, and today I'm joined by Robin Heap, the CEO of Zest, an electric vehicle charging network
2:02.6	startup. Welcome, Robin.
2:04.6	Good afternoon, Jane. How are you?
2:05.6	I'm good, thank you. Thanks for joining me. Now, look, electric vehicles are becoming more
2:10.6	common on the road. I guess I'm noticing them more because we recently, in our house, managed
2:15.6	to get an electric vehicle.
	...

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