Tuesday 4 May 2021

‘UK’s largest’ EV motorway charging site opens in Rugby

The Electric Highway has opened what it claims is the UK’s largest high-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging station on the country's motorways.

The station is made up of 24 chargers with 350kW of power that can supply up to 200 miles of range in 10 minutes and is located at Moto’s Rugby services.

It represents a multimillion investment to bring EV charging to motorway services across the country and is the first installation under The Electric Highway’s partnership with GRIDSERVE.

GRIDSERVE has been working alongside Moto and Ecotricity to provide EV charging needs for the UK's future, with the ban on new petrol and diesel cars to enter force in 2030.

The Electric Highway aims to install at least six high-power chargers across all of Moto’s sites by 2023. There is also the aim to upgrade all existing 50kW chargers to 350kW equivalents by the summer of this year to provide more charging flexibility and more range for drivers.

By the end of 2021, the collaborating companies are planning to install further charging stations like the new site in Reading, Thurrock and Exeter.

Dale Vince, Founder of the Electric Highway, commented: “We began building the Electric Highway ten years ago and Moto were one of our founding partners. Back then, state-of-the-art charging was just 7kW and here we are today at 350kW in just a decade.

“This is our very first high-powered installation, and this new technology comes just at a tipping point in the adoption of electric vehicles.

“This marks the beginning of our new partnership with GRIDSERVE and kickstarts a comprehensive programme where these installations will become ubiquitous on the motorway network, helping to make the experience of using an electric car no different to using a fossil-powered one.”