Rapid charging clusters to be installed in North East England

Six rapid charging clusters that can charge an electric vehicle in as little as 20 minutes will be installed in the North East of England.

The Phoenix Works won the tender from North East Combined Authority (NECA) to install the rapid chargers and have now received planning permission to begin the installation.

While there is already an EV charging infrastructure in the North East, conventional chargers can take up to four hours to fully charge a typical electric vehicle. The introduction of 50KW rapid chargers will allow drivers to fully charge their car in 20 minutes.

Through funding by both the Office for Low Emissions and the European Regional Development Fund, NECA has funded the installation of these rapid charge locations.

The charging infrastructure will be managed and serviced by the Electric Blue back-office platform. All of the new charging hubs will have contactless credit card readers to simplify use.

Gateshead Council's Martin Gannon said: “The fact these rapid charge hubs can fully charge a car in 20 minutes marks a huge step forward from the existing infrastructure. By installing these chargers we are further normalising electric vehicle use, bringing it ever closer to the time it takes to fuel a conventional car.”

Each of the clusters will have two 50kw rapid chargers and each rapid charger can charge two cars at a time.

Matthew Morgan, Operations Director & Electric Vehicle Charging/Infrastructure Specialist at The Phoenix Works says: “We were delighted to win the tender to install the rapid charging clusters in the North East. The uptake of EVs is really gathering pace and it is important there is the right infrastructure in place for optimal charging.

“We look forward to working in conjunction with Electric Blue to make this a success for all EV drivers in  the North East.”