Power infrastructure company Gridserve has revealed how it sees the future of the service station with a planning application to build the first solar powered electric forecourt in the UK.

The EV charging station will be located at Braintree in Essex and is the first of over 100 sites planned. It will have 24 ultra-fast charging bays with 350kW chargers offering charging times of less than 30 minutes, with the option of having more powerful 500kW and MW charge points for buses and trucks. Customers will wait in an airport style lounge.

Gridserve CEO Toddington Harper said, “By developing this state-of-the-art electric forecourt we are helping to tackle air pollution, encourage low-carbon transport, and meet climate targets, while also offering a solution that’s future proofed to support the mass uptake of electric vehicles. Every site will be powered by batteries and supplied by solar energy. With convenient, dependable, ultra-fast charging, we’re making charging an EV as easy as using petrol stations.”