OPINION: EV charging hubs are vital to the uptake of electric cars

My daily driver is an electric Volvo EX30, but with my apartment building not allowing the installation of EV chargers I spend quite a lot of time at public charging stations. And to be frank, a lot of them suck.

Some are hidden in the darkest corners of a car park, which isn’t the best for charging at night. I have an entire folder full of charging apps on my phone, but you can bet your bottom dollar that when I pull up to a station I’ve not used before that folder won’t contain the app I need.

On a few occasions I’ve also been soaked through in the rain at a service station while plugging the car in and authorising payment. Petrol station forecourts are covered and well-lit, so why do us EV drivers have to put up with this?

Well I recently made a trip to Colchester in Essex to see some friends, and on my way back to Hampshire I realised that one of Gridserve’s electric charging forecourts was only 10 minutes out of my way, and we need more of these around the UK.

I pulled up to a clean, covered forecourt with rows of electric chargers which you can simply tap with your contactless card. There is an app you can download if you want slightly cheaper rates and a few other perks, and I’d sign up to this if I was a more frequent visitor, but I just wanted to top up and go.

So with the Volvo plugged in, it said I had a 30 minute wait to reach my target charge level. I headed inside expecting just your standard service station, but this place is clearly set up for people who may need to actually spend some time here.

There is a cafe and a little shop, then upstairs you have plenty of seating, private meeting rooms you can access if you want to work in peace and even exercise bikes. A lot of motorway service stations are so grim I just grab a takeaway coffee and sit in the car, but this was a pleasant place to enjoy my Cappuccino and wait for the car to charge.

These EV charging hubs are starting to pop up across the UK, and here’s a list of all the locations at the moment:

• Stevenage Gridserve – 24 fast chargers
• London Gatwick Gridserve – 22 fast chargers
• Norwich Gridserve – 22 fast chargers
• Braintree Gridserve – 12 fast chargers

Plans are also in place for more of these electric forecourts including sites in Gateshead, Hartlepool, Leeds and Rutherglen.

What makes the Gridserve forecourts stand out to me over other large charging hubs is the facilities. Some have a coffee shop on site or a shop across the road, but I’ve never come across one where drivers are so well catered for. Few other charging stations are fully covered either.

Improving the charging experience is crucial to encourage the uptake of EVs. Electric cars may be perfectly suited to someone’s daily driving needs, but they’re put off by the thought of topping up on a long journey. One of these EV forecourts on every major arterial route would make long-distance EV driving more enjoyable.

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