The NEC Group and its partner, The EV Network, have been given planning approval for a major electric vehicle charging hub on the NEC Campus in Birmingham, UK.
Once completed, it will be one of the largest Electric Vehicle charging hubs in Europe in terms of number of charge points on one site.
The hub’s forecourt will contain ultra-fast 300KW DC chargers capable of charging 32 EVs at any one time. Served by 16 high-speed DC chargers, each will be able to fully charge a vehicle in 15-30 minutes and a solar canopy will help to generate electricity for the hub.
The hub can be accessed via a new entrance from the main Campus through road, just off junction 6 of the M42 and close to the M6.
To meet increasing demand, an existing car park will accommodate the hub’s remaining 150 points for 7KW AC-charging. These will be used by NEC Birmingham customers during their time at the venue, which welcomes over seven million visitors per year.
Set to go live from Autumn 2022, the hub is part of the NEC Group’s sustainability strategy and also contributes to the UK Government’s electric vehicle infrastructure strategy, launched in March 2022. The hub also opens the opportunity for the NEC Campus to electrify its operational vehicles to support carbon reduction.
NEC Group CEO Paul Thandi CBE said: “Creating an EV charging hub of this scale is a step change for the UK’s green travel strategy. We know that many electric vehicle drivers suffer from range anxiety and that this is a barrier to others switching to greener modes of transport. Providing greater reliability and access to high quality charge points in partnership with bp pulse at a key part of the UK road network, is a great move forward and one we are proud to support.”
