Charge provider Pod (which hasn’t been called Pod Point for almost a year, who knew?) has launched a new rewards scheme for customers who take advantage of flexible charging – you plug your car in at home and let Pod decide when is best to fill it up and then you’ll get given money back. The company says it’s already given out £330k in rewards during a trial period for the scheme.
Zest has announced a deal with the company behind discount emporium Home Bargains to provide charge points at a series of the company’s stores across the UK. Zest CEO Robin Heap said: “By working with forward-looking retailers like Home Bargains, we’re helping to remove barriers to EV adoption.”
Aptly named fleet charging provider Fleete has just opened the country’s largest commercial vehicle charging site at the Port of Tilbury on the Thames estuary in Essex. The site has a whopping 5MW capacity, with plugs for 16 electric HGVs to charge at once. There are 12 540kW plugs and four 270kW plugs to help lorries juice up before taking their freight off wherever it’s going. Logistics UK boss Ben Fletcher said: “Public charging infrastructure on this scale, and in such a key strategic location, is precisely what is needed to encourage more operators to use electric vehicles.”
EV driving residents of Harrow in the northwest of London who don’t have driveways are set to benefit from 500 new lamp post charge points that the borough council is installing in conjunction with char.gy. Apparently 225 of them have already been installed, with another 275 on the way over the next two years.
Leeds council says it has installed its first public charge point in a series of 70 that are set to be installed across the city this year. It’s working with Believ, which is installing and looking after the charge points, and it’s all in an effort to become the UK’s first net zero city. Councillor Mohammed Rafique said: “We are striving to become the first net zero city in the UK by reducing carbon emissions and reversing the decline in biodiversity, by supporting people to make more sustainable choices.”
TfL has thrown some money at TotalEnergies to build a series of 43 new rapid chargers aimed at areas where taxi and freight drivers could benefit from a top-up, as well as some popular high street locations that aren’t currently served by fast charging facilities. These 100kW and 200kW units will be mainly concentrated in south London around Bromley, Sutton and Lewisham and builds on other contracts already awarded to TotalEnergies and Zest. They’re expected to be in place by the end of 2027.
Ionity has just opened two new rapid charging hubs in the Scottish Highlands to boost provision in the far north – one near Fort William close to Ben Nevis and the other next to Inshes primary school in Inverness, where the kids were only too happy to get an hour out of lessons. The 400kW ultra-rapid chargers will be a boost to an electric Scottish roadtrip, with Loch Ness sitting between them.
Local councils have banded together across Dorset and are using the government’s local EV infrastructure (LEVI) fund to get ConnectedKerb to install 3,000 new charge points at a cost of almost £16.5m, with nearly £4m coming from the LEVI pot. Government minister Keir Mather happily signed the cheque for the deal, saying “Drivers can rest assured they’ll be able to charge up on the go.” The scheme will be delivered over the next five years say the councils.
And finally, charge point mapper Zapmap has added a live pricing display to its maps, so that you can see what a charge point will cost you with the merest glance, rather than having to tap through menus. You can also filter the plugs on show by price, adding further practicality to your charging experience. Now all we need is the same information on roadside signage...
