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Mobility startup playbook.

A London mobility startup operating shared / electric / micro-mobility (EV charging, fleet-EV SaaS, e-bike / e-scooter / car-share, MaaS / journey-planning, transit middleware). The win is hitting a defensible unit-economics threshold (trips per vehicle per day, kWh delivered per charger, MRR per fleet) with full UK + London regulatory compliance.

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Overview

A London mobility startup competes for permits as much as it competes for users — boroughs, TfL, landlords and DNOs gate every site. The biggest lever is site-acquisition velocity: a CPO with 3 sites / month grows MRR 3× faster than one with 1 site / month at the same utilisation. The second lever is OZEV LEVI + WCS + EVHS grants (up to 75% of capital). The third lever is interop — OCPP 2.0.1 + OCPI 2.2 + Plug & Charge unlock roaming + fleet contracts that doubled-grant native sites can't reach. This playbook covers operationalising a London mobility startup from first pilot through £600k–£4m ARR.

12–22% (rapid) / 6–12% (destination)
Public charger utilisation (top quartile, 2026)
2.4–5.8 (top quartile London)
Shared e-bike trips per vehicle / day
Up to 75% of eligible install
OZEV LEVI capital + WCS / EVHS grant coverage
№ 01 / What you'll need

Equipment list with real 2026 UK prices.

Sized for a 2–4 chair shop. Buy mid-range on chairs and clippers; cheap kit fails inside 12 months and walks away with your barbers.

01

Hardware (if CPO / fleet-operating)

AC 7–22 kW charger (per port)
£1,400–£3,400 + install £600–£2,800
DC rapid 50–150 kW charger
£18,000–£60,000 + install £8,000–£42,000 + DNO
DC ultra-rapid 150–350 kW + battery buffer
£60,000–£280,000 + DNO + battery
Shared vehicle (e-bike / e-scooter / car)
£600–£28,000 per vehicle + £40–£180 / month telematics
02

Software + cloud

CSMS backend (AMPECO / Driivz / Etrel / has·to·be / in-house)
£1.40–£4.80 per charger / month + per-kWh
OCPP 2.0.1 + OCPI 2.2 + Plug & Charge certification
£14,000–£60,000 / yr + cert per device
Energy + ToU + dynamic-pricing integrations
£800–£8,400 / month
Fleet + rider app + payments (Stripe + GoCardless)
£3,400–£28,000 setup + Stripe fees
03

Compliance + GTM

DNO connection + half-hourly metering + grid-services contract
£14,000–£140,000 per rapid site
TfL / borough / DfT Trial Order (e-scooter share)
£14,000–£82,000 + ongoing borough fees
PI + cyber + product-liability + fleet insurance
£14,000–£140,000 / yr depending on fleet
SOC 2 + ISO 27001 + ISO 27018 (enterprise + utility buyer)
£24,000–£60,000 / yr
Sales + BD (landlord / borough / fleet outbound)
£8,400–£42,000 / month
№ 02 / Where to set up

Location is half the business.

Borough / TfL / landlord BD density
Within 30 min of City Hall + 33 London boroughs offices

Site permits + on-street trials gated by borough + TfL relationships; in-person frequency wins.

Engineering + ops talent
Within 45 min of Old Street / King's Cross / White City

EV / mobility-tech eng talent (Octopus EV / Lime / TIER / Forest / Pod Point alumni) clusters in inner London.

Fleet customer cluster
Within 60 min of Park Royal / Heathrow / Canary Wharf / M25 fleets

Big fleets (Royal Mail / Tesco / Centrica / Mitie / FedEx) headquarter in London + M25; pilots local.

Area tier
Rent / month
Notes
King's Cross / Shoreditch (N1, EC1)
£500–£1,200 / desk
Best mobility-tech talent + borough / TfL access.
Westminster / SW1 (City Hall + DfT access)
£700–£1,800 / desk
Closest to regulators + ministerial BD.
Park Royal / Old Oak (NW10)
£300–£700 / desk + depot access
Cheap; depot + DNO + fleet customer adjacency.
№ 03 / Licences & registrations

Get the paperwork done before you sign a lease.

UK figures for 2026. Lead times assume you submit complete applications — councils will pause the clock if you miss documents.

Requirement
Who issues
Cost
Lead time
ReqCompanies House Ltd + EMI + IP + landlord MSA / borough licence templates
Companies House + solicitor
£800–£4,800
1–3 weeks
OptDNO connection + ENA G99 + half-hourly metering (per rapid site)
Local DNO + MOP/HHDC
£14,000–£140,000 per site
12–36 weeks
OptOCPP 2.0.1 + OCPI 2.2 + Plug & Charge + ISO 15118 certification
ElaadNL / OCA / GIREVE / Hubject
£14,000–£60,000 + per-device
8–20 weeks
OptTfL e-scooter Trial Order participation / borough on-street licence
TfL + borough
£14,000–£82,000 + ongoing
12–36 weeks
OptOperator Licence + DVSA + tachograph (asset-operating heavy fleet)
DVSA / Traffic Commissioner
£500 + £400 / vehicle
8–16 weeks
OptOZEV LEVI + WCS + EVHS grant accreditation
OZEV + accredited installer
£0 setup + audit time
8–16 weeks
OptSOC 2 + ISO 27001 + ISO 27018 (fleet + utility B2B)
Accredited auditor
£24,000–£60,000 / yr
6–9 months
ReqICO + DPO + DPIA (rider / vehicle data)
ICO
£60 + £180–£600 / month
1–3 weeks
ReqPI + cyber + product-liability + fleet + cargo insurance
Insurer
£14,000–£140,000 / yr depending on fleet
4–8 weeks
№ 04 / Build-out timeline

From decision to open in 12 weeks.

01

Months 1–4 · MVP + first site / fleet

1–16
  • Topco + EMI + IP + landlord / borough templates
  • MVP backend live (OCPP 2.0.1 + OCPI 2.2 if CPO)
  • First pilot site or fleet integration live
  • OZEV LEVI / WCS / EVHS accreditation in flight (if CPO)
02

Months 5–12 · 5–15 sites or 100–500 vehicles

17–48
  • 5–15 sites or 100–500 vehicles live; utilisation baseline measured
  • Plug & Charge + Hubject / GIREVE roaming live
  • First annual fleet / utility contracts (£60k–£240k)
  • SOC 2 readiness if enterprise B2B
03

Months 13–24 · Scale to 25–80 sites / 1–5k vehicles

49–96
  • 25–80 sites or 1k–5k vehicles live; ARR through £400k–£1.4m
  • SOC 2 Type II + ISO 27001 audit passed
  • Borough + landlord + fleet portfolio diversified
  • OZEV LEVI Tier 2 / 3 capital draw
04

Months 25–36 · Series A + V2G / grid-services

97–144
  • V2G / grid-services revenue layer added
  • ARR £1m–£4m; 80–250 sites or 5k–20k vehicles
  • Series A or strategic utility / energy acquirer engaged
  • Cross-border (Ireland / EU) expansion if applicable
№ 05 / Budget

Realistic startup and monthly cost ranges.

One-off · Startup

Setting up the shop

Legal + topco + EMI + IP + landlord / borough templates
£8,000 → £28,000
MVP backend (OCPP / OCPI / Plug & Charge) + first integrations
£28,000 → £140,000
First 5 sites or 100 vehicles (capex)
£40,000 → £480,000
OZEV + DNO + grant + permitting setup
£14,000 → £82,000
SOC 2 + ISO 27001 (yr 1)
£18,000 → £60,000
Sales + BD + first 6 months marketing
£18,000 → £82,000
Typical total
£126,000 – £872,000
Recurring · Monthly

Keeping the lights on

Co-working (8 desks)
£3,000 → £8,400
Cloud + CSMS + telemetry + payments
£1,400 → £14,000
Salaries (10 FTE blended £66k)
£44,000 → £64,000
Site / fleet operations + maintenance + energy
£3,400 → £42,000
Compliance + cert + insurance maintenance
£2,400 → £14,000
Sales + BD + landlord / borough relations
£6,800 → £42,000
Typical total
£61,000 – £184,400
№ 06 / Numbers that compound

How a mobility startup actually looks on a chart.

Interactive projections rebuilt from real UK operating data — toggle the views to see ramp, mix and weekly load.

12-month revenue ramp
Low vs high scenario (£ monthly)
High Low

Source · NAVIZIX 2026 London Seed–Series A mobility / EV-charging cohort (n=9 firms, 6–22 staff)

№ 07 / First 90 days

Dates that actually matter after opening.

01Day 0

Topco incorporated; MVP scope locked

02Day 90

MVP backend live; first OCPP / fleet integration certified

03Day 180

First site / fleet pilot live; OZEV LEVI accreditation in flight

04Day 300

5–15 sites or 100–500 vehicles live; first annual contracts

05Day 480

ARR through £400k; SOC 2 Type II in flight

06Day 720

ARR £1m+; 80+ sites or 5k+ vehicles; Series A engaged

№ 08 / What's inside

DNA, route, automations, integrations, benchmarks, advisors — tuned for a mobility startup.

01Move
DNA dimensions

Trips per vehicle per day (or kWh / charger / day), utilisation %, gross margin per trip / kWh / contract, ULEZ + LEZ + DVS + Operator Licence + DfT Trial Order (e-scooter) compliance, OCPP / OCPI / MaaS interop, CO₂e avoided, MRR + churn.

02Move
Suggested route

Pick a wedge (EV charging CPO / EMP / fleet-EV SaaS / e-bike share / MaaS / EV insurance / V2G), secure council / landlord / TfL relationship early, design for OCPP 2.0.1 + OCPI 2.2 + Plug & Charge + ISO 15118, and stage 1 borough / 1 fleet pilot → 5 → 25.

03Move
Automations

Daily utilisation + uptime + revenue-per-asset digest, weekly maintenance + battery-health + CSO alerts, monthly CO₂e + regulatory + grant evidence pack, OCPP / OCPI peering monitoring, RFID + Plug & Charge cert renewal tracker.

04Move
Integrations

OCPP 2.0.1 + OCPI 2.2 + ISO 15118 Plug & Charge, AMPECO / Driivz / Etrel / has·to·be backend, Octopus / British Gas / OVO energy + ToU tariffs, TfL Open Data + Bus Open Data + Rail OD, Stripe + GoCardless + Apple Pay + Google Pay, Salesforce + HubSpot.

05Move
Benchmarks

Utilisation %, MRR per fleet, kWh delivered per charger / day vs UK Seed–Series A mobility cohort, refreshed monthly.

06Move
Advisors

Encore advisors who scaled UK EV charging / shared mobility / MaaS + navigated TfL / OZEV / DfT / Ofgem, plus NAVIZIX AI for utilisation + payback-period modelling.

№ 09 / Stack

Modules used in this playbook.

01DNA Engine02Route Map03Launch Twin04Automation05Verified06Encore
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