TL;DR
Paua Solo makes public EV charging simple by combining one card, one app and a fixed pre-tax allowance through salary sacrifice.You save up to 62%, avoid multiple apps and receipts, and charge anywhere without admin or tax headaches.
Public Charging Made Simple: How Paua Solo Works
One card. One app. One very easy way to charge your EV.
If you drive an electric car through a salary sacrifice scheme, you’ve already made a clever choice lower emissions, lower costs, and no Benefit-in-Kind surprises.
But what about public charging?
Do you really want to juggle ten different apps, receipts and accounts?
No thanks.
That’s why we built Paua Solo, to make public EV charging as simple, fair and tax-efficient as possible.
Let’s show you exactly how it works, step by step.
1. Why public charging needs a simpler system
If you can charge at home, great. Plug in, pay your energy bill and off you go.
But around 44% of UK drivers can’t, because they live in flats, rent their home, or simply don’t have a driveway.
For them, public charging isn’t optional, it’s essential. Yet until now, it’s been fragmented, expensive and, frankly, fiddly.
You had to:
- Download different apps for different networks.
- Save receipts to claim back later.
- Pay from post-tax income (no salary sacrifice benefit).
Paua Solo fixes all of that in one go.
2. Meet Paua Solo, the public charging benefit that finally makes sense
Paua Solo is a public EV charging card that you add to your salary sacrifice car package.
It turns your public charging into a pre-tax, salary sacrifice benefit, saving you up to 62% compared with paying from your take-home pay.
Here’s what that means for you:
- One card that works across over 69,000 public connectors on 50+ UK networks
- One monthly allowance, deducted from your gross salary (not post-tax pay).
- One simple app to see your balance, charging history and savings.
You just tap, charge, and save.
3. Step 1: Choose your Paua Solo allowance
When you pick your electric car through your employer’s salary sacrifice scheme, you’ll be asked whether you’d like to add Paua Solo for public charging.
You can choose an allowance level that suits your driving habits, typically:
- £25 per month (for light public use)
- £50 per month (for commuters and city drivers)
- £75 per month (for frequent users)
- £100 per month (for road warriors)
That amount comes out of your gross pay before tax and NI, so you immediately save:
- 28% if you’re a basic-rate taxpayer.
- 42% if you’re a higher-rate taxpayer.
It’s like an instant discount every time you plug in.
4. Step 2: Get your Paua charge card and app
Once your allowance is set up, Paua posts your charge card and gives you access to the Paua app.
The card works on virtually every major public charging network in the UK, from InstaVolt to Osprey, Gridserve to Shell Recharge, all through one unified system.
You don’t need to register separately with any networks or top up manually. Paua handles that for you.
Open the app, and you’ll see:
- Your current allowance and rollover balance.
- Live map of nearby chargers.
- Real-time transaction history.
Everything in one place, always up to date.
5. Step 3: Plug in and go
Using Paua Solo couldn’t be easier:
- Find a compatible charger in the Paua app.
- Tap your Paua card on the reader to start charging.
- Track your session in the app if you’d like to.
- Unplug and drive away.
There’s no need to prepay, no separate receipts, and no waiting for reimbursements.
The charge cost automatically comes out of your Paua allowance, already covered by your pre-tax salary deduction.
You just drive, charge, and smile at how much easier life has become.
6. Step 4: Rollovers and top-ups (because life isn’t predictable)
Not every month looks the same. Paua Solo handles that automatically.
If you use less than your allowance
Your unspent balance rolls over to next month. You’ll never lose unused credit.
If you use more than your allowance
No stress, the extra is charged directly to your debit card.
That way, you keep charging without interruption, and your pre-tax allowance stays compliant and fixed.
Payroll doesn’t change, you stay flexible, and everything remains tax-efficient.
7. Step 5: See your savings in action
Your Paua dashboard and app show you exactly how much you’re saving every month - both in pounds and as a percentage of your public charging costs.
Example:
- Monthly allowance: £75
- Tax rate: 40% + 2% NI
- Effective saving: 42%
- Take-home impact: £43.50
- Value received: £75 of charging
You’re saving over £30 every month, that’s £360 a year just from using your EV charging smartly.
8. Step 6: Monthly reporting made easy
Behind the scenes, Paua handles all the administration for your employer:
- One consolidated invoice covering all drivers.
- Transparent VAT breakdown (standard 20% rate).
- Reporting dashboards for payroll, HR and sustainability teams.
That means no receipts, no expense claims, no manual reconciliations.
For drivers, it means the scheme keeps running smoothly month after month, without you ever having to think about it.
9. Step 7: Enjoy a stress-free EV experience
Paua Solo isn’t just about saving money, it’s about saving time and hassle.
With your Paua card, you can charge anywhere with confidence:
- No need to join multiple networks.
- No need to track receipts.
- No worries about tax or compliance.
Everything is handled automatically.
You can even keep using Paua Solo when you travel, the network is nationwide, stretching from Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands.
Public charging becomes something you don’t have to think about.
10. Why Paua Solo is different
There are other EV charging cards, but none designed specifically for salary sacrifice.
Here’s what makes Paua Solo unique:
- It’s a gross-pay model, not post-pay, so your charging is genuinely tax-efficient.
- It’s compliant with HMRC’s salary sacrifice rules (agreed allowance, pre-tax deduction, defined benefit).
- It’s simple for employers to run , one card, one invoice, one dashboard.
It’s a solution that works for drivers, HR teams and finance departments simultaneously.
That’s rare.
11. The end result: freedom, fairness and fewer apps
Paua Solo takes everything confusing about EV charging, the apps, the VAT, the receipts, and replaces it with one simple card that just works.
For drivers, it means:
- Less admin.
- More savings.
- Full freedom to charge anywhere.
For employers, it means:
- A complete, inclusive EV benefit that’s compliant and easy to manage.
And for the planet, it means more people going electric, faster.
12. The takeaway
Public charging shouldn’t feel complicated, and with Paua Solo, it isn’t.
You choose your allowance, get your card, and drive away knowing your charging is:
- Affordable (up to 62% savings).
- Simple (no apps, no claims).
- Fair (works for everyone, with or without a driveway).
- Tax-efficient (pre-tax, HMRC-aligned).
That’s how you make EV charging effortless.
Paua Solo, Public charging made simple, fair and tax-efficient.
