Osprey Charging Network is to open an ultra-rapid charging hub at a former café site in Devon, marking its first foray into land acquisition.

Osprey CEO Ian Johnston

The 1.6-acre Salmons Leap location at Buckfastleigh is conveniently situated adjacent to the A38 Devon expressway and will be transformed into a EV charging hub, boasting 16 x 150kW DC ultra-rapid chargers. These will be able to recharge an EV from 20% to 80% in around 20-40 minutes.

The site, which is accessible from both the west and east bound carriageway for the A38, will also incorporate an onsite café offering drivers refreshments whilst they charge their EVs.

The site will be powered by Osprey’s intelligent software and 100% renewable energy, together with dynamic load balancing charging.

CEO Ian Johnston said Osprey’s move into buying land would help build “brilliant charging hubs co-located with coffee and amenities”.

“It’s a spacious location that we’re delighted to develop into our biggest safe, reliable, accessible EV charging hub yet, serving both local EV drivers and the high numbers of seasonal visitors to Devon. We expect to have the site open by the end of the year,” he elaborated.

The sale of the land to Osprey was handled by South West-based property agency Charles Darrow, which says it is currently working with a number of EV charge point operators (CPOs) that have ambitious plans to grow the EV charging network across the region.

Associate director James Sanders added that there is currently huge demand from CPOs looking to rapidly expand their network into the South West. Such firms will typically buy or lease space within existing businesses or standalone pieces of land that are close to main roads, with 24-hour access and also able to offer on-site amenities to drivers.