Hitachi Capital backs Gridserve's EV charging vision

Green technology company Gridserve has secured a loan facility from Hitachi Capital that is set to finance its plans to rollout 100 ultrafast electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across the UK within four years.

Modelled on traditional petrol stations, Gridserve's stations - dubbed Electric Forecourts - are to be powered entirely by clean energy generated at two battery-integrated solar plants in Gloucestershire and Lincolnshire.

The loan facility from Hitachi Capital will go towards the development of the two solar-plus-storage plants and help launch the first Electric Forecourt in a matter of months. The companies did not disclose the size of the loan.

Gridserve's maiden EV charging site is set to open close to Braintree in Essex and will be able to charge two dozen vehicles simultaneously at a rate of 230kW in less than half an hour, the partners said, noting that there are also "many more sites already under development".

Robert Gordon, chief executive of Hitachi Capital, said today that the partnership would help accelerate the UK's transition towards an electric vehicle (EV) fleet.

"Our partnership, at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution, marks a real step-change in addressing range anxiety caused by the lack of available charging stations currently available throughout the country," he said.

Gordon added that the coronavirus pandemic had highlighted both the need to cut carbon emissions and the "real opportunity, through flagship programmes like this, to create the infrastructure needed to fast-track electric vehicle adoption across the UK and meet the Government's ambition to be carbon neutral by 2050, creating a greener, cleaner society".

Toddington Harper, chief executive of Gridserve, said the partnership was a major milestone for the firm. "As well as providing significant financial backing to accelerate our ability to deliver sustainable energy and meet net zero carbon emission targets in the earliest possible timeframes, Hitachi Capital has an unrivalled wealth of experience, knowledge, resources, and expertise to support our collective success," he said.

This is not the first collaboration between Hitachi Capital and Gridserve. The two companies are also working together, through the financier's social innovation arm, on the electrification of the UK bus network and the "supply of electric vehicles with charging included at Gridserve Electric forecourts", they said.

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• Topics
• Transport
• Automotive
• Solar
• Gridserve
• EV charging
• Electric Vehicles
• charging infrastructure
• Hitachi Capital