Oxford will soon have the UK’s largest public electric vehicle (EV) charging hub. Energy Superhub Oxford (ESO) will feature 38 fast and ultra-rapid chargers that will deliver 100 percent renewable energy to EV drivers day and night.
Oxford City Council has partnered with UK-based Pivot Power, who are part of EDF Renewables, and also working with Fastned, a European fast-charging company, Tesla Superchargers and Wenea, one of the largest EV charging services providers in Europe, to deliver Europe’s most powerful EV superhub in Oxford.
The new superhub will be the most powerful in Europe with up to 10MW of power on site. It will scale up to help meet the need for EV charging in the area for the next 30 years. This is the first of up to 40 similar sites planned across the UK to help deliver the charging infrastructure needed for the estimated 36 million EVs by 2040.
Energy Superhub Oxford will be located at Oxford’s Redbridge Park & Ride and will be directly connected to the high voltage national electricity grid. This will provide the power needed to charge hundreds of EVs at the same time quickly, without putting strain on the local electricity network or requiring costly upgrades.
This innovative network has the capacity to expand to key locations throughout Oxford to meet mass electric vehicle charging needs. This ranges from buses and taxis through to commercial fleets.
Fastned will initially install ten chargers at the Superhub with 300kW of power. These are capable of adding 300 miles (484km) of range in just 20 minutes. The station will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy, partly generated by the company’s trademark solar roof.
The announcement is a key milestone in the completion of Energy Superhub Oxford (ESO), due to open in the fourth quarter of this year. It also comes as Oxford is set to launch the UK’s first Zero Emission Zone this August.
The £41m world-first project, led by Pivot Power, integrates EV charging, battery storage, low carbon heating and smart energy management technologies to support Oxford to be zero carbon by 2040 or earlier.
ESO will save 10,000 tonnes of CO2 every year once opened later in 2021. This is equivalent to taking over 2,000 cars off the road, and this figure is expected to increase to 25,000 tonnes by 2032. It will provide a model for cities around the UK and the world to cut carbon and improve air quality.
Michiel Langezaal, CEO of Fastned, said: “Our mission is to accelerate the transition towards electric mobility by giving freedom to electric drivers. Energy Superhub Oxford is a great initiative by the City Council to support us in working towards that goal.
“We need hundreds more and will therefore continue to engage with landowners and partners such as Pivot Power across the UK. Big stations are the only way to provide charging capacity to the exponentially growing number of EVs coming to our roads.”
Matt Allen, CEO at Pivot Power, said: “Our goal is to help the UK accelerate net zero by delivering power where it is needed to support the EV and renewable energy revolution. Oxford is one of 40 sites we are developing across the UK, combining up to 2GW of battery storage with high volume power connections for mass EV charging.
“Energy Superhub Oxford supports EDF’s plan to become Europe’s leading e-mobility energy company by 2023, and is a blueprint we want to replicate right across the country, working hand in hand with local communities to create cleaner, more sustainable cities where people want to live and work.”
Councillor Tom Hayes, Cabinet Member for Green Transport and Zero Carbon Oxford at Oxford City Council, said: “As an innovative city embracing technologies and change, Oxford is the natural home for the UK’s largest public EV charging hub. We are excited to be taking a major step forward in the completion of Energy Superhub Oxford, working closely and superbly with our private sector partners.”
