GRIDSERVE completes purchase of Electric Highway

GRIDSERVE has completed the purchase of the Electric Highway – the world’s first national charging network for electric cars, from Ecotricity.

The Electric Highway began a decade ago and enabled early adopters to drive the length and breadth of Britain.

GRIDSERVE is ramping up investment in the Electric Highway with the replacement of all the existing chargers on the network with new technology that features all the latest advances including contactless payment – and the opening last month of the first high power charging facility at Moto’s new flagship Motorway services at Rugby, featuring 12 x 350kW chargers.

Dale Vince OBE, Founder, Ecotricity, said: “We’ve reached an interesting point in the electric car revolution, exponential growth is just around the corner, the technology for charging has evolved with one standard and an incredible rate of charging now being possible – using an electric car is almost on a par with using a fossil powered car, where you can just top up once every week or two. And the Electric Highway needs a growth spurt, to make sure that it stays ahead of driver demand and continues to play it’s key role, as the network that delivers more miles every year than any other. For this the Electric Highway needs an owner with access to serious funding and real commitment to the cause – I’m delighted to have found the ideal company to hand the baton to, in GRIDSERVE.”

Toddington Harper, CEO, GRIDSERVE, added: “It’s a real honour for GRIDSERVE to have been chosen by Ecotricity as the organisation to take the Electric Highway forward in its next phase. Our purpose is to #deliver sustainable energy and move the needle on climate change, and the upgraded network will provide the confidence for millions more people to make the successful transition to electric vehicles in the earliest possible timeframes.”

The sale will enable Ecotricity to push new boundaries in its core green energy business – with innovations like Britain’s first Green Gasmill – a revolutionary process of making ‘natural gas’ for the grid simply from grass. It will also bring forward a series of solar and battery storage projects to be built without government support, while expanding its Sky Mining facility – a world first carbon capture and storage process that turns atmospheric carbon dioxide into diamonds.