Episode 1 - EV Charging Made Simple
Welcome to the first episode of Garage Talk Unwrapped - The Podcast, with Vicky and Ben.
In this episode we discuss EV charging — the infrastructure, cost, accessibility, and ways people (and garages) can benefit.
We also hear from industry voices Matt Cleevely of Cleevely Motors, and Andy Savva The Garage Inspector, and we speak with Matthew Teudor, a Canadian entrepreneur and founder of EVDC, who is on a mission to make EV charging simpler, fairer, and more accessible.
Here’s a summary of the podcast.
Intro
Vicky: Hello and welcome to Garage Talk Unwrapped — The Podcast with me, Vicky.
Ben: And me, Ben. In this episode we’re looking at how to make EV charging simpler and more effective — and there’s a hint about how you can make money from it too.
Today we speak to Matthew Teudor from EVDC — he’s come from Canada to talk about a peer-to-peer charging model that could disrupt the market.
The EV challenge
Vicky: We haven’t invested in an EV yet — we’ve looked at hybrids. A big worry is range anxiety and how practical EVs are for long journeys, like visiting family in Wales.
Ben: Accessibility is a huge factor. There aren’t enough chargers, and many of the existing ones are run by operators who make charging expensive.
Vicky: The UK is adopting more EVs, but our infrastructure is behind where it needs to be. We have problems with distribution and utilisation compared to parts of Europe.
Voices from the industry — Matt Cleevely
Vicky: At last year’s Schaeffler REPXPERT conference, Matt Cleevely explained why he moved into EV servicing.
Matt Cleevely: I’m passionate about renewable technologies and wanted to know what the future might look like for technicians. I stumbled across EVs and saw the main dealers weren’t handling them well. For adoption to happen, there needed to be businesses that supported that growth and gave confidence to consumers.
We said, “If you own an EV, come to us — we’ll look after it.” I expected to be busy locally, but we became one of the country's busiest EV repair centres. There was a big appetite in the independent aftermarket for EV repairs.
Ben: Matt’s success has encouraged other garages to invest in EV capability — you can’t deny he’s built a viable business around it.
Vicky: In smaller communities especially, customers don’t want to change garages just because a family member has bought an EV. That relationship matters.
Interview — Matthew Teudor (EVDC)
Ben: Matthew, thanks for joining us. How come you’re in the UK this week?
Matthew Teudor: We’re here to discuss how to make EV charging in the UK better. Right now, in my opinion, it’s expensive and unreliable. Compare it to Europe — charging is often more affordable and makes more sense financially for drivers.
Ben: How will you simplify charging?
Matthew Teudor: It comes down to pricing first. Even if infrastructure improves, if pricing is too high people won’t switch. Our approach is to remove unnecessary markups, negotiate bulk energy purchases with operators, and offer better visibility of charger status so users aren’t left guessing whether a unit works.
Ben: Tell us about the app — that’s central to your plan, right?
Matthew Teudor: Yes. Our app is a charger map where drivers can find and start chargers easily. You don’t even need an account — you can charge as a guest. The app will create a guest profile tied to your phone so you can save payment details and start charging quickly.
You can filter by operator, power and price. Pricing is the most important factor. If chargers are reliable and affordable, people will lean into driving EVs.
Ben: You mentioned EVDC is strong in Europe — why?
Matthew Teudor: Pricing. In some European countries public charging is much cheaper, so it actually makes financial sense to drive an EV. In the UK, public charging can sometimes cost as much as petrol, which undermines the EV case.
Ben: You’ve also been building a peer-to-peer network — tell us about that.
Matthew Teudor: It’s like the Airbnb of EV charging. People buy our chargers for single- or three-phase supply, install them at home or at work, and list them on the map. Drivers find them, plug in and pay. Owners keep 92% of the revenue (we charge an 8% network/mapping fee) and simply cover their utility costs. This helps reduce range anxiety and adds local charging options in places where public chargers are sparse.
Ben: So owners can actually make money from their charger?
Matthew Teudor: Yes. If your electricity cost is 20¢/kWh and you charge at 30¢/kWh, you earn the difference each time someone charges. It’s an incentive to expand the network quickly.
Our goal is to scale pricing and deploy thousands of units to make a real impact.
EVDC Market scale and practicality
Ben: How many users does the app have?
Matthew Teudor: We’re approaching between 60,000 and 100,000 users — not all active, but the point is that ease of location, reliability and pricing are the key drivers of adoption.
For many people, the main benefit of EV ownership is charging at home cheaply and not paying at the pump. If public charging costs are high, that benefit disappears.
Vicky: Home charging can be as low as 7p per kWh, but public charging can be up to 10 times that — partly because home electricity is charged at 5% VAT while public charging often attracts 20% VAT. That’s a significant factor in public charging cost.
Ben: And chargers are unevenly distributed — half of public chargers are in London and the Southeast, leaving Wales and Scotland far less served.
Vicky: For people without driveways, home charging is difficult. There’s a government fund to help households without driveways, but grants are limited and councils can be slow to approve street-works or planning.
Industry debate — sceptics and believers
Ben: Not everyone in the trade is convinced. At the Schaeffler conference there was tension between EV advocates and sceptics.
Andy Savva: First, I respect Matt for what he’s doing — he’s in a niche market and he’s at the top of his game. That deserves applause. But I’ve said this consistently: EVs are not for everyone. They’re not for the majority.
The problem in our trade is noise. When there's a big story about something, everyone rushes in, buys equipment and tooling without doing detailed research into their own local market. Then the gear sits idle.
If I opened a garage tomorrow, I wouldn’t care one iota about EVs because that’s not what would make me money. There’s enough ICE work — for the next 15, 20, 30 years — to build a profitable business.
Practically speaking, based on my research, EV ownership suits about 10–12% of the population. That might even be less in some areas. We’ve seen similar cycles before — remember when everyone promoted diesel? Lots of people suffered as a result. I believe something similar could happen with EVs.
There are areas where specialised EV businesses will do very well. That’s fine — but it’s a niche. Most garages should prioritise looking after their current customers and the mix of vehicles that will remain on the road for years.
Matt Cleevely: Our job is to look after customers’ vehicles, regardless of fuel type. There are BEVs, PHEVs, hybrids — these technologies aren’t going away overnight, and there’s already over a million EVs on the road. There is revenue there and customers who need servicing.
Vicky: I’d agree it's important not to ignore recruitment and training — we do need technicians who can work on EVs — but a lot of components and repairs remain similar to ICE vehicles. It’s a balance.
Ben: The debate will continue.
Final thoughts
Vicky: It's useful to know that EVDC are working on trying to solve the problem, trying to make charging cheaper, hopefully encourage more people to to buy EVs and look at that sustainability piece.
Ben: As an industry we should welcome new ideas and create real change.
That’s it for episode one.
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Vicky: Next time we’ll talk about the history of oil — speaking to Andy Wait from Motul and Fuzz Townshend from Car SOS.
Ben: See you next time.