Fastned made the news pages of forecourttrader.co.uk recently because it had applied for planning permission for a new EV charging plaza right next door to Exelby Services’ Coneygarth forecourt.
The news came as Rob Exelby was gearing up to open his own EV chargepoints. Needless to say he was not best pleased.
In addition, Fastned has lodged plans for a new EV charging hub on the A55 in Flintshire, right next to Shell Northop Hall petrol station.
However, Tom Hurst, UK country director at Fastned, believes there is room for all and says his company is keen to work with forecourt retailers to provide ‘crucial capacity’ for the EV drivers of today.
An example of this is the work Fastned is doing with Ron Perry & Son on the A19. Dan Perry, director of operations at the company, takes up the story.
“We have spent a great deal of time researching EV options and I personally have spent a great deal of time driving around the country in an assortment of electric cars trying to get a handle on the EV scene and the future of forecourts and EVs place in that future.
“We want to be at the forefront of the exciting new frontier of electric mobility and, as a business, we have been looking at various EV solutions over the past few years and spent a great deal of time in talks with various EV suppliers, contractors and providers.
“We have been pitched various EV business models over the years and we passionately believe that Fastned provides an efficient, fast and convenient charging solution that is ideal for our sites’ location, clientele and, most importantly, our customer needs. We are delighted to have partnered with Fastned for a rapid charge EV solution at our North and South sites and firmly believe that Fastned is one of the most exciting and forward-thinking EV charging companies around right now.”
Ron Perry & Son has agreed terms on a long-term lease/profit share on its development land at Elwick near Hartlepool (subject to planning approval at the time of writing) for both its North and South sites.
“We are extremely excited to be putting in place Fastned’s trademark funky arboreal inspired canopies at our sites. The North site will feature a park-in-and-charge format while South will have a really cool drive-through style that we feel will be a really effective charging landmark on the A19, as well as being convenient and easy to use with our shop and roadside offerings in close proximity at both sites. In a nutshell, we are providing the land and Fastned is providing the EV charging.
“In terms of going live, planning permission has been a lengthy process but all being well our development plans to add EV charging along with enhanced secure HGV parking should hopefully come to fruition in the very near future, subject to an imminent planning determination.”
Ripe for conversion?
Fastned currently operates 350-plus sites in Europe and has just opened its 30th in the UK. It also has six locations under construction and is working on an ultra-fast charging hub project with Transport for London’s Places for London property company, to deliver up to 25 ultra-rapid EV charging hubs across London by the end of the decade.
Although chargepoint numbers are increasing all the time, there has been some criticism about a lack of chargepoints in rural areas.
Hurst says that busy roads are a priority: “We’re looking at key entry and exit points to A-roads, dual carriageways and motorways,” he explains.
He cites Fastned’s Wooton Basset hub, in conjunction with car wash firm Carbana just off M4 on the A3102 as an example as it serves a big chunk of Wiltshire.
Meanwhile, Fastned recently ran a Clean Start programme looking for petrol stations ripe for conversion to EV charging hubs and offering up to £250,000 in remediation costs.
Although the company did get interest from forecourt operators, Hurst says none were right for conversion to charging hubs. However, the programme has been successful in that it has found former forecourts that are going to be converted to EV hubs as well as petrol stations where an EV hub will be developed alongside it. Hurst says planning applications are already in for some of the projects.
Hurst’s main piece of advice for forecourts venturing into EV charging for the first time is to choose your partner well.
“We have a reputation as reliable,” he says adding that Fastned was the top-ranked network in Zapmap’s annual EV driver survey in the ‘Medium rapid/ultra-rapid network’ category for 2024/25. The network scored very highly for reliability, ease of use and the payment options offered.
Hurst says Fastned serves the entire EV demographic thanks to its charging spaces being tailored for long wheel base vehicles such as caravans.
Zapmap says…
Top 50 Indie MFG also scores highly in the Zapmap survey and has been near the top of the ‘Large rapid/ultra-rapid network’ table for the past three years.
Both BP Pulse and Shell Recharge score less well, and Zapmap says they need to bring their offering closer to the standards MFG has set if they wish to meet EV driver expectations.
With such prominent positions on the strategic road network, Zapmap says there is a big opportunity for fuel forecourts to provide and promote their charging facilities. This will not only appeal to existing EV drivers but will also help give drivers the confidence to make the switch to electric as they see the growing network of charging points.
In the latest Zapmap annual survey, conducted last autumn, when asked about the key factors which influenced their decision to stop at a particular en-route location, 65% of EV drivers said having multiple chargers available at the location was top, closely followed by the chargers being directly available on their journey. Forecourts at motorway service areas aside, Zapmap says many other forecourts are on key routes along the strategic road network and so would be well-placed to fulfil this requirement.
From the extensive data Zapmap tracks on charger utilisation across the public network, it can be seen that on average drivers charge for 35 minutes at fuel forecourts. While facilities are not cited as a top reason to select a particular charge location, toilet facilities and the ability to buy some food and drink are seen as a factor. This represents an opportunity for fuel forecourts as a 30 minutes stop should result in a higher propensity to buy food and drinks.
Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and COO Zapmap, says: “With over 1.3 million EV drivers on UK roads, and accounting for close to 20% of car registrations in 2024, the switch to EVs is well underway.
“Fuel forecourts, with highly visible locations along the strategic road network and facilities that EV drivers value, are well-placed to establish a customer-centric, reliable charging service and take a leading role in the market as it grows.”
Madic’s Pulse arrives in UK
Madic Group has been designing and manufacturing its Pulse range of EV chargers in France for the past 15 years; installing over 20,000 charging points across Europe. Now Madic UK is bringing the Pulse range to the UK.
The latest range is eco-designed and capable of delivering up to 400kW. A modular system allows owners to start with a lower charge capacity and easily increase it, if they want to.
Pierre Sacre, energies director at Madic UK, says they are looking forward to contributing to the growth of charging locations in the UK and will continue to invest in new technology and smarter ways to install and maintain equipment.
“Madic Group’s expertise and experience in EV charging hardware and services across Europe, combined with our know-how and reputation within the forecourt and retail sector in the UK, allows us to deliver an excellent and proven EV offering.
“We have just recently begun a soft launch/pilot approach in the UK market for our Pulse EV range and have already received quite a lot of interest.
“What we find is that some forecourt operators are already well versed in the EV charging domain, have a strategy with processes and partners in place. Others have a charger or two on site and are enjoying the new revenue stream, while some forecourt operators have no idea where to start but are beginning to research the possibilities.”
Sacre says the cost of EV charging equipment has been dropping since the early days of 50kW DC charging, but it is still a significant investment alongside the installation and maintenance plan.
“The key for any forecourt operator is the TCO (total cost of ownership) and ROI (return on investment). We can help with that, working with data providers to model the number of charging sessions that can be expected and the projection of growth – this helps frame the ROI for them.”
Sacre says one of the key issues in deploying EV charging infrastructure is to find suitable locations with enough parking space to enable a vehicle to stay parked from 20 minutes to an hour.
“Forecourts are, very often, ideally located along major traveling axis and do have parking space. They also offer canopies, additional services for cars – car wash, air, vacuum and retail, which makes them an attractive site for EV charging. They are also known spots to local drivers.
“With 2030 only five years away there may not be much change on forecourts beyond the addition of EV chargers to some parking bays. There may be a slight change within the retail space to increase the food and drink offering for drivers who will stop for 20-plus minutes and certainly there will be interest in convincing these drivers to spend within the forecourt space via loyalty, discount vouchers, etc.
“This is what is exciting for us beyond the Pulse range of EV chargers that we can provide our forecourt customers. We are looking at how best to integrate our EV offer with our evoPOS and evoBackOffice software suite, to make the driver experience as ideal as possible and encourage consumers to return to sites – finding the amenities and services they are looking for.”
Turnkey solution
TSG says it offers a comprehensive, turnkey EV charging solution, encompassing site surveys, design, consultancy and distribution network operator (DNO) connections.
But once everything is up and running it’s important to ensure it stays that way which is why effective preventative maintenance for EV charging stations is crucial for operational success.
TSG has therefore developed a tailored service and maintenance programme to cover EV charging solutions and electrical infrastructure throughout the year.
New technologies in this field include integrated charging management systems, such as TSG’s ChargeLOG, which assists businesses in tracking energy consumption, scheduling charging times and optimising costs.
ChargeLOG delivers real-time oversight of EV charging stations, offering the versatility to integrate with various charger brands, granting fleet operators full control.