A new ultra-rapid charging hub is to go live in Rochdale in early 2023, helping to transform the local EV infrastructure.

The site will provide eight charging bays, delivering up to 150kW per socket

The new site will be located at St Mary’s Retail Park in Rochdale and will be the first ultra-rapid mini-hub built by Manchester-based Be.EV, the public EV charging network for the North.

The site will provide eight charging bays, delivering up to 150kW per socket, offering ultra-rapid charging to the rising number of EV drivers in Greater Manchester. The chargers will be accessible to the public and a discounted tariff is available to Be.EV members.

While ultra-rapid chargers are still few and far between in the region – due to their power requirements – Be.EV is solving this issue by installing two special 550kW power banks from specialist Kempower to deliver over a megawatt of power across all the charging bays. Further plans could see the site expanded over time.

Landlord Glenbrook Investments is working with Be.EV to deliver the public EV charging.

Richard Rees, investment director at Glenbrook, said: “Hosting public EV charging at perfectly situated sites like St Mary’s Gate benefits both our tenants and the local community. It’s an easy way for landlords to support the roll-out of much-needed sustainable infrastructure. It’s good for Rochdale and it fits with our drive to support positive change through our investment process.”

Asif Ghafoor, CEO of Be.EV, added: “This is the North levelling itself up. Rochdale deserves and needs great infrastructure, and we all work together to deliver it – without a penny of public money and without waiting for Westminster to send help. A very progressive Transport for Greater Manchester has put us on a mission to look after and build on their public EV charging network, by engaging anybody who can and wants to host EV charging. It allows us to go out and find partners like Glenbrook Investments to help us build a great network for the North faster.

“This is just the first of many new sites we’ve got in our sights in and around Rochdale, but it will make a huge difference to existing and aspiring EV drivers in the town already.”