UK’s first electric forecourt opens in Essex

The project enables EV drivers to charge for a range of 200 miles in 20 minutes

The UK’s first electric forecourt opened today near Braintree, Essex.

The site enables 36 EVs to be charged simultaneously, with high power chargers that can deliver up to 350kW of charging power, enabling drivers to add 200 miles of range in 20 minutes.

Drivers charging at the electric forecourt will initially pay just 24p per kWh of energy, which is believed to be the lowest ultra-high power charging rates on the market.

The site, which is the first of 100 planned electric forecourts being built by the energy firm GRIDSERVE in the next five years under a £1 billion plan, has been funded with contributions from Hitachi Capital UK, Innovate UK and OZEV.

Toddington Harper, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GRIDSERVE, said: “It’s our collective responsibility to prevent greenhouse gas emissions rising further, and EVs powered by clean energy represent a large part of the solution.”

Ian Cameron, Head of Customer Service and Innovation at UK Power Networks, commented: “We see a future where venues like this can offer energy services to help balance the electricity network, creating new income streams, getting more clean energy onto the network and ultimately lowering costs for customers.”

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