We’re excited to announce the opening of one of the UK’s first public electric HGV (eHGV) charging hubs at our Baldock Services, with a further e-HGV hub planned to open at our Leeds Skelton Lake site later this year. This was delivered via Electric Freightways, a project funded by the Department for Transport’s Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme and led by GRIDSERVE, laying the foundations for zero emission freight.
The new eHGV hubs at our Baldock site, found at J10 of the A1(M), and Moto Exeter, located at J30 of the M5, mark a defining moment for the decarbonisation of heavy goods freight in the UK.
The ZEHID programme, led by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, was created to support and accelerate the adoption of zero emission HGVs. Despite representing just 1% of road vehicles, HGVs contribute to 16% of the UK’s total domestic transport greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as 5% of the sector’s NOx emissions.
We now have eight dedicated eHGV charging bays at Baldock Services, while Moto Exeter has four eHGV charging lanes. All feature new safety markings, custom signage to account for the higher HGV driving position and have universal drive-through bays that enable all models to plug in, regardless of charge port location.
We’ve checked that drivers can navigate the charging lanes safely and easily, while wide walkways, lighting, sensors and CCTV have also been considered to ensure customers can safely walk between vehicles, chargers and the service area facilities.
Daniel Kunkel, CEO of GRIDSERVE, said: “The Electric Freightway shows that zero emission freight is no longer a future ambition but a live, operational reality. With the help of our consortium partners, we’re now proving that electric HGVs can run real routes at real scale, using shared public infrastructure. ”
To mark the opening of the first public hubs, eHGVs from the Electric Freightway programme set off from Moto Exeter to arrive at Extra MSA’s Baldock Services for a ribbon-cutting ceremony with attendees from the consortium, Department for Transport and Innovate UK.
Tom Dobson, CEO of Extra MSA, said: “The opening of the UK’s first public eHGV charging hubs is a watershed moment for electric freight. Extra is committed to supporting the decarbonisation of this crucial sector, and we look forward to working with GRIDSERVE to deliver a network of strategically located, high-power public eHGV charging hubs that enable electric trucks to operate in a sustainable manner.”
With Moto Exeter and Extra MSA Baldock now available for all hauliers to use, GRIDSERVE will open more eHGV charging sites across a number of UK services later this year, including our Leeds Skelton Lake site.
You can find the full press release here.