UK’s largest public EV charging hub opens at the NEC Birmingham

The National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham is now home to the UK’s largest charging Gigahub, following a grand opening attended by The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt MP.  

The hub is a partnership between bp pulse – bp’s electric vehicle charging business – and The EV Network- a leading EV charging infrastructure company.

Gigahub is a bp brand name given to their larger hubs, which are typically located in high-demand areas. Such hubs already exist in Park Lane, London, at Gatwick Airport, and in Kettering.  

Sitting at the heart of the national motorway network, the Gigahub will serve the NEC’s seven million annual visitors, along with a wide range of other road users that make up the area’s average yearly traffic count of 60 million. The hub is less than a mile from junction 6 on the M42 and just 2.4 miles from junction 7A for the M6. 

Capable of charging 180 EV’s simultaneously, the Gigahub boasts cutting-edge ultra-fast 16x 300KW DC chargers, of which two are designated accessible bays. These ultra-fast chargers are capable of charging 30 EVs simultaneously. The site also has a further 150 points for 7KW charging including additional designated accessible bays. 

A new Starbucks Coffee drive-thru is also on site to cater for drivers and their passengers while they wait. 

The RT Hon Jeremy Hunt MP said: ‘This is the biggest private investment in electric charging in the UK and is a huge vote of confidence in Britain’s role as a leader in green industries.  

‘The ground-breaking site will be a major transport hub for the future and marks a significant step in our rollout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the country.’

Akira Kirton, vice president of bp pulse UK, said: ‘The transition to electric vehicles is evolving at pace which is why bp pulse is focussed on accelerating the development of the UK’s EV infrastructure, delivering the right charging speeds, in the right locations and investing up to £1 billion to do so. 

‘This new, nationally significant bp pulse Gigahub™ at the heart of the UK’s road network, is another great example of our strategy in action.

‘We plan to roll out hundreds of hubs this decade in places EV drivers needs them – urban areas, on trunk roads and motorways and at destinations such as restaurants, retail parks and hotels.’