Swindon Borough Council has granted permission for a three-storey electric van park to be built on the edge of the town.
The development on the former Groundwell Park and Ride site on Cricklade Road is the brainchild of Infinium Logistics and it will be its ‘first and flagship’ project.
Its aim is to allow logistics and e-commerce businesses to operate fleets of EVs with a particular focus on ‘last-mile deliveries’.
Local drivers would arrive, collect a van and leave to make their journeys. If drivers access the site by private car, they will be able to park their vehicle in the parking space vacated by the van they use. Once all journeys have been made, drivers would return the vans to the site.
The facility will have 388 van parking spaces; 20% of which will be for vehicle charging.
The aim is to provide electric-charged storage for delivery vehicles, together with rapid public charging, powered by solar energy, which together Infinium says will help put Swindon at the forefront of the net zero agenda.
The solar photovoltaic (PV) panels will have an output of 884kW (0.884MW) in year one, which will provide approximately 25% of the power required for the facility. There will also be a battery energy storage system central to the site which will have a power rating of 1.8MW and a storage capacity of 3.5MWh, allowing excess energy to be stored and injected back into the site when needed.
The scale of the van storage facility has been designed to be in keeping with the surrounding properties and structures, and it will be largely screened by existing and proposed trees/vegetation.
The facility will be independently operated on a 24-hour basis. The EVs stored could be vans for last-mile delivery operators, utility companies, service providers or any other van operation where overnight charging and secure storage is required.
The site will also have goods storage facilities for clients, and a cafe and restrooms for drivers.
