Massive EV charging project

The UK has welcomed its largest public-charging hub for electric vehicles (EVs). It boasts 30 ultra-fast 150kW charging bays and 150 not-so-fast 7kW charge points.

The Gigahub, which is based at the campus of major live-events company the NEC Group, means that 180 EVs can be charged simultaneously albeit at different speeds. 

Ultra-fast charging is delivered through 15 300kW chargers each with two bays. It is the biggest in the UK and one of the biggest in Europe.

The charging campus in the west Midlands sits at the heart of the country’s motorway network and is powered by renewables, including a rooftop solar canopy at the site. It is a joint venture between BP, Pulse, the EV Network and NEC.

Electric vehicles are taking a growing share of the UK’s new-car market with one-in-five now being fully battery electric. As of July, there were about 840,000 BEVs on UK roads. 

“The launch of the UK’s largest Gigahub is a massive game-changer for EVN and a huge step forward for UK fast charging,” says Reza Shaybani, chief executive of EVN. 

“Our team is responding to demand for more charging, and we are responding with hundreds of millions of pounds of new investment and the latest technology.”

EVN secured a 6.5MVA grid connection to support the infrastructure.