UK's First Electric-Only Car Forecourt Opens in Essex

UK's First Electric-Only Car Forecourt Opens in Essex

The futuristic service station is part of a billion pound project - Image Source: Twitter

BRITAIN’s green transport revolution is underway as the country’s first electric-only forecourt opens in Braintree, Essex.

The outlet is the first of many eco-friendly service stations planned as part of the Gridserve company’s billion-pound ‘Sun-to-Weel’ project. The station uses energy produced by a solar farm in Bedfordshire as well as solar canopies above the forecourt and will have the capacity to deliver over 200 miles of driving energy to 36 vehicles simultaneously in just 20 minutes. Its battery storage capacities will have reserves of energy worth 24,000 miles of road travel.
Gridserve’s CEO Toddington Harper says that in order for enough Brits to make the switch to electric vehicles ‘charging has to be simple and free of anxiety’. The Essex outlet, which is the first of many planned stations nationwide, will also contain WH Smiths, Costa Coffee, and Boots branches alongside high-speed wifi, business pods, a kid’s play facility, and a ‘wellbeing centre’ featuring electricity-generating exercise bikes. One kilowatt of energy will cost just 24p, with roughly 175kw needed for 100 miles of travel.
Transport Minister Rachel Maclean said that ‘as we accelerate towards cleaner and greener transport, I’m delighted to see the future of service stations being brought to life with the opening of the UK’s first all-electric forecourt’. The PM Boris Johnson has announced plans to ban the sale of fossil fuel-powered new cars by 2030 in order to reduce UK carbon emissions.


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Oisin Sweeney

Oisin is an Irish writer based in Seville, the sunny capital of Andalucia. After starting his working life as a bookseller, he moved into journalism and cut his teeth as a reporter at one of Ireland's biggest news websites. Since joining Euro Weekly News in November, he has enjoyed covering the latest stories from Seville, Spain and further afield - with special interests in crime, cybersecurity, and European politics. Anyone who can pronounce his name first try gets a free cerveza...

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