First Kempower hub opens.

A UK-first electric vehicle (EV) dynamic charging hub opens today in Wolverhampton. The site is the first of over 150 charging hubs being delivered across the UK by Osprey Charging in a £75 million programme to eliminate charging anxiety ahead of the 2030 ban on petrol and diesel cars.

EV uptake in the Midlands is expected to skyrocket over the next decade, with a report from Midlands Connect projecting the number of registered EVs in the Midlands – currently at around 45,000 – to reach 1.7 million by 2030 – an increase of over 3,000%. This huge growth in EV adoption will require a sixfold increase in the number of EV charging points to meet demand for charging.

Other factors – such as Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone introduced in June 2021 to tackle air pollution –  are accelerating this trend, encouraging drivers in the region to move away from old polluting petrol and diesel vehicles to electric alternatives. Public EV charging infrastructure, such as Osprey’s new Wolverhampton hub, will help ensure that the transition to EVs in the region is both rapid and smooth.

The site is a major boost to regional EV charging infrastructure, hosting four high power rapid chargers that can add up to 100 miles of charge in just 10 minutes. Located adjacent to the A463, the hub will serve major transport routes in the area that see more than 130,000 vehicles pass by daily, and has a Costa Coffee on-site, allowing drivers to relax and make use of their facilities while they charge.

Osprey’s Wolverhampton hub is the first site in the UK deploy a game-changing new technology – Kempower – which is enabling more locations than ever before to host multiple high-powered chargers on a single site.

Kempower chargers work together to optimise charging across multiple vehicles when more than one EV is plugged in. They allow power to be distributed based on demand, which varies significantly between individual vehicles due to the maximum charging rate of each model and its battery percentage at the point of charge.

This can reduce waiting times significantly, maximising the speed and availability of chargers for drivers, and increasing consumer footfall for the landowners hosting the hubs.

The technology also means grid connections can be optimised, allowing multiple high-power chargers to be installed per site and offering higher charging speeds without the need for more grid power. The physical footprint of each charger is also reduced by 74%, allowing space for more chargers, improving accessibility and reducing their visual impact to support planning permission.

Osprey worked closely with Deeley Construction, who delivered the new Costa Coffee site at which the hub is located, and Connect It Utility Services, who ensured the high power charging installation was built and energised on time and to high quality.

Osprey’s £75 million UK-wide EV charging hub rollout will see a total of 1,500 150-175KW rapid chargers installed across 150 sites nationwide over the next four years. Each hub will be located on strategic A-roads and adjacent to motorways, hosting up to 12 high powered chargers.

All Osprey chargers are compatible with every rapid charging EV on the market today and do not require a membership or subscription to initiate charging – drivers can simply tap their contactless bank card or smartphone.

This year, Osprey was voted by EV drivers as one of the UK’s favourite public charging networks in the Zap Map annual survey and the WhatCar? public EV charging driver survey.