The National Trust has signed up Raw Charging to install EV charging for visitors across the UK.

Image credit: Shaun Fellows / Shine Pix Ltd

Raw will invest up to £12m in the rollout, working closely with the charity to develop and install EV charging at suitable sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the next three years.

A key focus will be on ensuring the infrastructure and design is sympathetically integrated into the environment while also offering accessibility for all drivers and passengers.

Each location will be equipped with a number of charging bays. Most chargers will be AC destination units, aimed at visitors spending a half or full day at the National Trust’s estates, houses and gardens. However, DC rapid charging hubs will be made available at a small number of sites where the visit time is shorter than standard, or if the location is convenient for drivers to charge during a short break from longer journeys.

Edward Wood, head of facilities management at the National Trust, continued: “We are committed to working for a healthier and more beautiful natural environment as the land and properties in our care face their biggest threat from climate change. Much of what we look after is rural and reducing the carbon footprint of everyone who travels to our places will be critical to us being able to achieve our climate goals, including to be carbon net-zero by 2030. Installing EV charging points across our nationwide portfolio of places will help build the infrastructure needed to support the transition away from petrol and diesel and support us to fulfil our charitable purpose of caring for special places for everyone, for ever.”

Bruce Galliford, CEO, Raw Charging, said: “We’re looking forward to working with the National Trust to roll out EV charging across their places in the UK. This is one of the largest schemes we have worked on, and we are investing over £12m in the sites as we continue to deliver reliable and affordable EV charging across the UK.”

Raw has recently launched charging facilities at the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet York, Crown Point Shopping Park in Leeds and has announced plans for a new ChargeYard in Oxford as part of a sponsorship with Oxford City Football Club.

It’s also opened the Charge Yard facility in Slough and is working with Greene King to install EV charging across the retailer and brewer’s sites in the UK.