Cobham Services has gone live with 12 new Ionity 350kW ultra-rapid charge points on the back of a £3.8m grid investment from UK Power Networks.

L-R: Adam Lakey from UK Power Networks; Marc Schulz at 2MS Construction; Ionity’s Andreas Atkins and Tom Dobson of Extra MSA

The regional electricity network operator installed three miles of new 33,000-volt cabling and new equipment at a substation in Effingham.

The major investment in new power infrastructure will enable more drivers to make the switch to EVs, improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions.

Extra Motorway Service Area Group, which operates 10 sites across the UK including Cobham, is also planning charging upgrades at its other sites.

Tom Dobson, chief executive of Extra MSA, said: “As the UK’s number one motorway operator, we’ve made a commitment to going the extra mile for our customers, which includes exceeding theGovernment’s 2023 targets for the number of charge points at MSAs through our work with both UK Power Networks and Ionity. We look forward to building on this fantastic work through the planned expansion of our EV offering at a total of five of our sites across the next year.”

Andreas Atkins, country manager UK and Ireland at Ionity, added: “Our 350kW ultra-fast Ionity charging points are among the highest-powered facilities available on the UK motorway network. We look forward to working closely with Extra over the coming years to provide even more EV drivers with access to convenient, ultra-fast, and emission-free charging, enabling them to continue their journey with ease.”

UK Power Networks’ Green Recovery programme is rolling out power upgrades at several motorway service stations to connect more electric vehicle chargers. Its £66m fund under the programme is enabling 76 EV rapid charging stations to be installed across its regions, as well as putting heat pumps, low carbon public transport and community energy schemes in place – all chosen due to clearly meeting the Government’s net zero objective and the 10 Point Plan.

Adam Lakey, leading the Green Recovery projects for the distribution network operator, said: “We have worked with local communities, government and Ofgem to invest in electricity infrastructure, promote jobs and economic growth and make tangible progress to connect more electric vehicles to accelerate the country’s transition to net zero carbon emissions.”