Osprey Charging, one of the UK’s leading networks of rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging points, has been selected by British Garden Centres, to provide rapid electric vehicle charging at its UK stores. British Garden Centres are the UK’s largest family-owned garden centre group.
Osprey’s rapid chargers can add 100 miles (161km) in range to an electric vehicle in 20-30 minutes. This fits garden centre dwell time perfectly and allows customers to enjoy their recharge time in a relaxing and comfortable environment.
The British Garden Centre in Carmarthen, Wales, will be the first to offer an Osprey rapid charge to its customers. This will be at a hub with eight ultra-rapid (150kW) chargers and will open later this year.
The Carmarthen hub will be followed by high-power hubs planned in Wimborne (Dorset), Carr Gate (Yorkshire), Braintree (Essex) and Harrow (London). A total of 11 further sites are confirmed with a mix of these larger hubs and some smaller installations depending on the size of the site and availability of power.
A family-owned and -run operation for over 40 years, British Garden Centres is reviewing its entire estate with the aim of bringing Osprey’s charging technology to all of its centres across the UK over the next few years. This is great news for electric car owners and will hopefully help to speed up the transition to driving electric.
Last month Osprey committed to delivering accessible and safe charging when it became the first charging network to subscribe to the independent public EV charging endorsement body ChargeSafe. This is to inspect and rate its sites and this pledge will ensure the charging facilities at each British Garden Centre are as accessible as possible in the space available.
Ian Johnston, Osprey Charging CEO, said: “The British Garden Centre’s name is synonymous with first-class customer experience, and we’re delighted to provide safe, reliable, and accessible charging at their UK stores.
“We look forward to a fruitful partnership as we work together to offer EV charging at more of its centres up and down the country.”
Amy Stubbs, British Garden Centres, said: “We work hard to provide our customers with expert gardening knowledge, great value, the industry’s best gardening products and the highest quality of food in our restaurants.
“Partnering with Osprey allows us to build upon this further by letting our growing number of EV driving customers charge their vehicles at a time and location that is convenient for them, whilst they visit our stores.”
Back in July Osprey announced it was partnering with British Gas, the UK’s largest energy and home services company. The collaboration will help transition its vehicles to an all-electric fleet and simplify the charging process for its drivers.
The partnership provides British Gas engineers with direct access to Osprey’s nationwide network of over 300 charging stations across the UK. This will create a simple driver experience and provide a centralised fleet billing to support British Gas’ electric fleet operations.
With around 9,000 vehicles, British Gas is one of the UK’s biggest fleet operators and is working towards converting its entire fleet to become fully electric under its net-zero ambition. Last year, Centrica, British Gas owner, committed to electrify its 12,000 strong operational fleet by 2025.
