UK’s first ultra-fast EV chargers to go live within months
The UK’s first ultra-fast electric vehicle chargers are to go live within months, capable of adding 100 miles of range per ten minutes plugged in and joining what will be a pan-European network.
The first 12 Ionity/Tritium chargers went live in Germany this week.
It marks the first steps in establishing the Ionity network, a carmaker-backed infrastructure project which will put 400 ultra-fast charging stations along Europe’s major routes. Once complete, the network will offer quick-stop refills for the large-capacity batteries in forthcoming long-range electric vehicles, at intervals of no more than 75 miles.
The UK’s first units will be supplied by Australian manufacturer Tritium, with chargers at unspecified locations in Maidstone, Milton Keynes and Thurrock, with details set to be announced by the end of September. A spokesperson for Ionity said the country would get at least 20 stations on the network, with pricing for users set to be announced within weeks.
Tritium’s first Ionity network chargers went live earlier this week at the Tank and Rast service areas either side of the A61 autobahn south of Bonn, Germany – each site offering six units. The company opened a European sales, testing and assembly facility in Amsterdam earlier this year to support its ongoing expansion plans in the region.
Dr. David Finn, CEO and founder of Tritium, said: “Increasing battery size and energy density means electric vehicles can travel further distances. But charging these larger batteries fast requires high-power charging infrastructure. Our HPC solutions deliver up to 475kW of power, making them capable of charging EVs in a very short time. And our goal is to bring charging times down even further, ideally to the same time as it would take to fill your tank with petrol.”
The manufacturer will supply around a quarter of the Ionity network’s chargers, in the UK, France, Germany, Norway and Sweden, while ABB will also have units on the network, and its first live in Lausanne, Switzerland. All will feature the Combined Charging System (CCS) DC connector.
Alex Grant
Trained on Cardiff University’s renowned Postgraduate Diploma in Motor Magazine Journalism, Alex is an award-winning motoring journalist with ten years’ experience across B2B and consumer titles. A life-long car enthusiast with a fascination for new technology and future drivetrains, he joined Fleet World in April 2011, contributing across the magazine and website portfolio and editing the EV Fleet World Website.
