Fastned, the European fast charging company and the UK’s best rated en-route charging network, is offering to work with British and Irish independent petrol station owners to cover the costs of decommissioning and remediating their forecourts. In exchange, Fastned will lease the land from the owners and build an ultra-rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging hub. This will help scale up the UK and Ireland’s ultra-rapid charging network and get more EV drivers on the road.
Petrol station owners who want to use their land for any other commercial purpose usually need to safely decommission the large underground fuel tanks located on their site, and remove the contaminated soil from decades of leakage. This can make the transition to EV charging an expensive, and so risky, endeavour.
Fastned is expanding its charging network in the UK and is looking for sites for charging hubs that are in busy locations that make it easy for EV drivers to charge. Independent petrol station owners with sites that meet Fastned’s location criteria can access Fastned’s “A Clean Start” offer to help with the costs of cleaning up their sites.
With a long-term commercial lease in place, Fastned will then use its in-house design and construction teams to develop the site into an ultra-rapid charging hub, with multiple 400kW chargers, which it will then operate as part of its growing network. Former petrol station owners may get a cut of the annual turnover from the hub in addition to guaranteed rental income, depending on the commercial agreement.
Additionally, with the number of EVs on UK roads predicted to grow to two million vehicles over the next two years, and EV sales up 45% in Ireland in 2023 compared to 2022, more public charging hubs will be needed to meet demand. This is likely to cause a rush to secure power connections across the UK and Ireland. Fastned’s offer allows independent petrol station owners to take action now and get ahead of their competitors to meet this growing demand, establishing their locations as the go-to sites for local and regional charging needs.
Tom Hurst, UK Country Manager, Fastned said: “With this offer we’re putting our money where our mouth is. We’re serious about ramping up the roll-out of the UK and Ireland’s charging network, and we’re excited to work with petrol station owners that want to be at the forefront of the EV transition. Collaboration is key to making EVs the new norm, so we’re calling out to all independent petrol station owners that want to get ahead of the curve and make a Clean Start – if you’re interested, get in touch.”
For twelve years Fastned has been providing EV drivers with a reliable and easy-to-use ultra-rapid charging service. A market leader in the Netherlands, Fastned has over 300 charging hubs across seven different European countries. This includes 21 charging hubs in the UK with a total of 112 charging points each offering up to 300 miles of range in 20 minutes.
Each Fastned charging hub has either yellow illuminated wings or nature-inspired wooden solar canopies that make them visible to drivers. This reassures existing EV drivers that they can plug in, power up and drive off within minutes, and shows drivers that have not yet made the switch what is available to them.
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