Gridserve has just officially opened its first 400kW capable charge station – the bad news is that you’ll have to use up all of your battery to get down to it in Bristol, but the good news is that you’ll be on your way again very quickly if you’ve got a powerful enough car.
Four of the new charge points have been installed at the Centaurus retail park in Cribbs Causeway, just north of Bristol, and they’re very handy for TK Maxx. Despite their power, the chargers were a bit simpler to pop together than some of Gridserve's recent projects.
The machine is the A400 from ABB E-mobility, which Gridserve says comes with a 32in screen with physical buttons. It has two CCS plugs attached to it, and it can share out its 400kW dynamically between two cars that are plugged in at the same time depending on how much power they can handle. Are we going to have to find another word to tack on the front of the already congested ultra-rapid-charger?
Gridserve’s chief customer officer, Rebecca Trebble is naturally a fan of the new machine: “We’re setting a new benchmark for performance and reliability, both for Gridserve and for the UK. This technology allows us to deliver faster charging and an even smoother customer experience at scale.”
Of course, Gridserve is getting ahead of the curve with the machine – there are two 400kW capable cars on sale at the moment, the Lotus Emeya and the BMW iX3. The IM5 and IM6 models from MG are very close behind at 396kW and the Lotus Eletre will manage 350kW peak charging. The recently announced XPeng G6 will be the fastest charging car in the UK when it goes on sale in February, with speeds of up to 451kW... if you can find a plug fast enough.
According to the latest information from Zapmap, among the options for 400kW charging are a Porsche dealership in Tewkesbury, an MFG EV station near Worcester or Toddington services on the northbound M1. Dutch charging firm Fastned also has a number of 400kW capable charge points around the UK.
If you want to charge your XPeng G6 as fast as possible, the closest 500kW charger is at a truck stop just outside Rotterdam. Bristol’s looking pretty good right now...
Shopping at Cribbs Causeway in a Lotus Emeya? It only sounds like our perfect day out... 
