The Electric Highway – the world’s first nationwide charging network, has today opened the UK’s largest high power motorway charging site, a development it promises will become ubiquitous as it transforms its network of facilities on the country’s motorways and major roads.
The installation is the first under the Electric Highway’s new partnership with Gridserve, which saw the company take a 25% stake in the Highway – as well as bringing its acclaimed technology and expertise to the network.
The Electric Highway’s flagship motorway installation is open now at MOTO’s brand-new Rugby services at Junction 1 of the M6. The new facility includes 12 state-of-of-the-art high-powered pumps from Tritium, able to charge supported vehicles at 350kW – adding around 100m of range in less than five minutes. All pumps are contactless.
As part of the major Electric Highway transformation programme – funded by Gridserve investor Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC – all existing 50kW pumps will be replaced this summer while in parallel, work has begun on high power installations across its entire network.
“Gridserve’s purpose is to deliver sustainable energy and move the needle on climate change, and the rollout of high power chargers across Britain’s motorways in partnership with Moto will do just that – providing drivers with the confidence to go electric today,” says Toddington Harper, CEO of Gridserve “To see what the future of electric vehicle charging on the UK motorway network looks like, you can now visit Moto’s new Motorway Service Area at Rugby. After announcing our Electric Highway partnership with Ecotricity in March, and supported by Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC, we’ve been hard at work putting in the charging infrastructure needed to give people the confidence to make the transition to electric vehicles, by delivering 6-12 high power 350kW chargers across the network as quickly as possible, as well as replacing all the existing chargers with the latest technology.”
Dale Vince, founder, The Electric Highway, adds, “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 power 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.”
