A new ‘Gigahub’ said to be the UK’s largest public EV charging hub has opened at the NEC in Birmingham.

The new site enables 180 EVs to charge simultaneously

The new site provides a mix of 300kW ultra-rapid and 7kW fast BP Pulse charge points, enabling 180 EVs to charge simultaneously.

It’s situated at the heart of the national motorway network, located at one of the UK’s leading live events businesses and designed to “deliver the right charging speeds, in the right location”.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt officially opened the site and stated: “The ground-breaking site will be a major transport hub for the future and marks a significant step in our rollout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the country.”

The site comes with 16x 300kW DC chargers, capable of charging 30 EVs simultaneously and including two designated accessible bays. It also has a further 150 points for 7kW charging, including additional designated accessible bays.

The Gigahub provides a range of charging speeds to cater for different dwell times and all visitors have access to a new Starbucks Coffee drive-thru.

It’s the result of a partnership between BP Pulse, the EV Network (EVN) and the NEC. EVN was the investor for the multimillion-pound project and designed, developed, and constructed the site after signing a long-term contract with the NEC Group to bring EV charging infrastructure to the entire campus. It’s already worked with BP Pulse on several projects launched this year.

Reza Shaybani, CEO and co-founder of the EV Network, said: “The NEC was a perfect location that is not only geographically key, but of national significance, to support the EV charging landscape. EVN secured 6.5MVA grid connection, to support the entire infrastructure. The strategic placement and impressive scale of this charging hub within the UK’s transport infrastructure offers reassuring support to drivers journeying between cities.

“Our long-term relationship with both the NEC Group and BP Pulse ensures this is not just an investment for the site’s visitors but a transformative step towards bolstering the entire EV charging infrastructure of the UK.”

The new site also supports BP Pulse’s plans to significantly expand its EV charging infrastructure; it’s investing around £1bn to meet fast-growing demand, roughly tripling the number of public charging points in its UK network by 2030.

Akira Kirton, vice president of BP Pulse UK, said: “We plan to roll out hundreds of hubs this decade in places EV drivers needs them – urban areas, on trunk roads and motorways and at destinations such as restaurants, retail parks and hotels.”