Gridserve has been on the rise since early in 2017, shooting to fame with the UK’s first electric vehicle charging forecourt and its Electric Highway which has gone a long way to easing range anxiety for EV owners while driving the green agenda.

This trophy in the IJGlobal ESG Awards 2022 has been won by Gridserve for its June 2021 acquisition of Electric Highway from Ecotricity that was established in 2011 to provide motorway charging units… and which were in dire need of a system-wide upgrade.

On acquiring Electric Highway, Gridserve invested massively into replacing and upgrading the 300+ existing motorway chargers it inherited, with all sites completed by April 2022. Due to demand, it also provided additional AC charging pedestals.

Gridserve established new grid connections and developed innovative compact sub-stations with relevant power networks to deploy large-scale, ultra-rapid EV charging stations – Electric Super Hubs – with larger, accessible bays embedded into the design. At the time of submission, 8 Electric Super Hubs had been deployed, each consisting of 6 -12 industry-leading 350kW-capable chargers.

Through its geographical and statistical analysis, Gridserve has also identified new sites to install energy creation ‘mini grids’, designed to provide additional grid capacity to new and emerging EV charging stations, ensuring sites are able to receive the anticipated power demands with sustainable energy.

By the start of August (2022) – outside the judging period – the Gridserve Electric Highway had in excess of 160 sites with more than 900 connectors for CCS, CHAdeMO and Type 2 AC, ensuring all EV models can charge with us.  All EV chargers support contactless payment, meaning there are no barriers to usage, and are powered by sustainable energy.

As one of the independent panel of judges said: “Gridserve's transformation of the Electric Highway in the past year or so has been outstanding. The company has completely reformed the reputation of MSA charging, which has wider positive implications for the take-up of EVs in the UK. I also like the circular economy element of upgrading poor-performing chargers, rather than simply building new ones at new sites.”

Another judge says: “This is a significant project – with big impact – supporting decarbonisation of transport, supporting the demand for EV chargers in UK, helping to develop a reliable EV charging network in UK. And it paves way for a whole new asset class investment.”

This was rounded off by another judge saying: “Gridserve’s commitment to net zero – sun-to-wheel energy eco-system – using 100% renewable energy for the EV charging network is market leading.”

Picture added after awards (left-to-right): IJGlobal editor Ila Patel; Jeremy Cross, chief commercial officer; Darren Cruickshank, CFO; Mark Henderson, chief investment officer; IJGlobal editorial director Angus Leslie Melville