Drivers of electric vehicles in the UK will soon be able to drive greater distances on motorways, confident that they will never be too far from a quick charger.
It’s all thanks to an innovative partnership between Nissan and Ecotricity, which has installed 13 more quick chargers to Welcome Break motorway service stations, bringing the number of rapid chargers at Welcome Break sites to 16.
Welcome Break is one of the biggest service station chains in the country, meaning that EV drivers can be confident that they will pass one of their sites on almost any motorway journey. With a quick charger taking just 30 minutes to replenish an EV battery to 80 per cent capacity, ‘refuelling’ a car like Nissan LEAF can be undertaken during a brief comfort break.
This is the UK’s first publicly accessible motorway-based quick charging network and is part of a long-term plan to have more than 150 rapid chargers installed by April 2014, opening up the entire country to EV drivers. Currently there are 97 quick chargers in the UK.
Jim Wright, managing director of Nissan GB, said: “We are working hard to ensure that 100 per cent electric driving becomes accessible for all UK motorists and the installation of a rapid charging network on the motorways opens up EV ownership to thousands more motorists.
“Nissan is proud to be the main power source driving the development of infrastructure that will ultimately provide further flexibility and peace of mind to drivers of Nissan LEAF.”