Gridserve’s FIRST (up to) 500kW Electric Car charging forecourt heading for Essex

Gridserve’s first electric forecourt will be in Braintree, Essex

Gridserve will build its first electric car charging forecourt in Braintree, Essex, offering up to 500kW charging for electric vehicles.

The plan is to deliver electric forecourts with facilities for charging up to 24 vehicles at a time – including separate areas for private and commercial – and airport-style facilities including lounges with Wifi, coffee shops and fresh food.

Now, Gridserve has announced that its first charging forecourt in the UK will be in Braintree, Essex (for those who know the area, it will be next to the planned Horizon 120 Business & Innovation Park in Great Notley), with plans now submitted to the council. So, depending on how long Braintree District Council takes to pontificate, work should start before too long.

The rapid charging on offer will deliver 350kW for now – the same as Ionity’s new facilities – and can be upgraded to 500kW when car makers start to deliver cars capable of charging at that rate. But even at 350kW it’s not going to take much longer to recharge than it would to fill up with petrol.

Supported by battery banks and solar power, Gridserve also say that their investment in grid infrastructure and solar energy will make the cost of using their electric forecourt competitive with the price of home charging.

Next up for Gridserve will be electric forecourts in York and Hull, situated next to advanced solar farms to deliver power.

Toddington Harper, Gridserve CEO, said:

Braintree is in the unique position of being the first of over 100 sites across the UK to host a GRIDSERVE Electric Forecourt®. Every site will be powered by batteries and supplied by solar energy. With convenient, dependable, ultra-fast charging, we’re making charging an EV as easy as using petrol stations.

We’ve asked Gridserve what their timescale is for actually opening in Braintree – and if they’re building a solar farm there – but we’re still waiting an answer. We’ll update when we know, but with the Horizon 120 Business Park not opening until the end of next year, we guess it won’t be until then.