Osprey Charging has announced that it will make charging anxiety a thing of the past, by installing more than 150 high-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging hubs across the UK by 2025.
Each hub will host up to 12 rapid chargers with a maximum power of 150-175kW, equalling a total of 1,500 chargers nationwide. The EV hubs will be situated on strategic A-roads and adjacent to motorways. The idea is to encourage motorists to switch to electric cars ahead of the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars.
The £75m (US$104m) rollout, from one of the UK’s largest and fastest growing public rapid EV charging networks, will see new charger optimization technology deployed publicly for the first time in the UK. Kempower charging technology enables more locations than ever to host multiple rapid chargers on a single site without compromising on charging power or requiring prohibitively expensive grid connections. The technology has the potential to revolutionise EV charging deployment in the UK by intelligently load balancing to maximize the amount of charge that each vehicle receives. The Kempower technology will complement the market-leading Tritium charging hardware also being deployed on new sites by Osprey.
Charging anxiety – the fear of difficult-to-use, unreliable or unavailable charging infrastructure – is a major concern for EV drivers and a key barrier to greater adoption, according to EVA England, the country’s trade body for the EV industry. Osprey’s multicharger, power-optimizing hubs solve this challenge by ensuring drivers can turn up and charge without having to wait for a charger to be available.
“The EV market is booming, with sales up over 117% year-on-year and EV adoption continuing to grow exponentially,” says Ian Johnston, CEO of Osprey Charging. “In less than nine years’ time, buying a new petrol or diesel car will be impossible, so it’s crucial that public charging infrastructure stays ahead of the curve. High-powered, multi-charger hubs will herald a new era of public EV charging – enabling mass EV adoption and a clean transport revolution. Our rollout of hubs across the country’s major transport routes will ensure drivers are supported with convenient, reliable, on-the-go charging, delivering the best possible consumer experience for UK motorists.”
Construction is already underway at four sites and Osprey’s first hub will open next month [October 2021] in Wolverhampton, adjacent to the A463 near the M6. Construction will commence on all of the first 10 hubs before the end of the year, with over 150 hubs consisting of 1,500 150-175kW chargers, opening on major transport routes, motorways, A-roads and popular destinations over the next four years.
Each rapid charger can add 100 miles of range in as little as 10 minutes and each hub will be located near food and drink amenities, enabling drivers to make use of the facilities while they charge their car. For example, Osprey’s first four hubs are adjacent to well-known and popular retailers, including Costa Coffee, Lidl, Aldi, Pizza Hut, KFC and Curry’s PC World.
All Osprey chargers are compatible with every rapid charging EV on the market today and do not require a membership or subscription to initiate charging – drivers can simply tap their contactless bank card or smartphones.
