EV Charging Experiences Don’t Get Much Better Than This!

In this episode Robert takes us to the latest in premium charging stations - GRIDSERVE’s Electric Forecourt at Gatwick International Airport in the UK.
From his early EV charging experiences with non-functioning chargers stood at the far end of a dark car park, to this cutting edge, future proofed, 30 charger strong forecourt - Robert is truy in his element!
GRIDSERVE’s CEO Toddington Harper updates Robert on how they are focussed on bringing a fulfilling charging experience to the masses.
Learn more about GRIDSERVE here: www.gridserve.com/
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[@ashley_neal]

Something else that's unfortunately pushing electric car ownership to only businesses. It would cost me £63 to charge my electric car here which would get me around 200 miles. My highly uneconomical Ford Focus ST is much more economical than this. Sad things are going this way after we started brightly.

[@dtrrider1]

No one talking about how £0.79 per kwh is absolutely insane.

[@aussieideasman8498]

They almost think they are stealing - and they are, LoL.

[@MsItalia007]

True.

[@thelifeofbatteries2603]

yes, i used them in the early days when they were 49p but won't touch them now

[@AndrewTSq]

that is normal fee for a public charger here. They have turned up the taxes a lot for electricity last years. (edit : In sweden)

[@nottmfunguy]

I give them 12 months before you see them closing these places!

[@GuanoLad]

The "it just works" ethic is always thrilling to see enacted. It really shouldn't be a rarity, life doesn't need to be so difficult. More of this approach to everything we do, please!

[@Yanquetino]

Having driven EVs for the last 12 years, I now know from experience that EV range need not be farther than your bladder range, and that the charging speed need not be faster than your rest room speed.

[@damianpeterkelly1234]

For your use case maybe. We regularly tow a caravan so any layby has a full (clean) kitchen, stocked fridge and bathroom. So EV range for us has to be car plus 1800Kg caravan around 700 miles in 16 ish hours. Pretty easy with a diesel, no EV comes close yet.

[@bryanlarsen7562]

If you plugged in at your layby's you wouldn't need 700 miles of range. And using someone else's bathroom means you have to empty your septic less often.

[@jollygreen4662]

350 miles range is all I ask for

[@__-pl3jg]

Agreed. But, for me that tends to be 400-450 miles. I've driven every model Tesla on long road trips. 320mile range isn't ideal for my needs. Which is why I was looking forward to the advertised 500 mile range of the CyberTruck. I was quite disappointed when they unveiled the ranges as being around 320 and you need an additional external battery pack taking up space in an already tiny truck bed just to get 450mile range. As a result I wont be buying the CyberTruck after all. I'll probably rent one just to experience it but I'm eagerly waiting for longer range EV's with roof mounted fold out solar panels so I can travel long distances and get 50 or more miles of solar charge per day when parked.

[@chrismoule7242]

@@bryanlarsen7562 Plugged in to what? I have never yet seen a layby with a charging point in it.

[@TheDarrenJones]

Used this when I got back from Copenhagen over the holidays. Charging was straightforward. Unfortunately got back later than the upstairs was open so had to brave the road to walk to McDonald's... which was a dismal experience. Charging was great though.

[@smaemurray]

To everyone involved in the Gridserve, well done and thank you!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@bw1376]

Yeah, thanks for the extortionate prices that make petrol and diesel cars look really competitive.

[@brianadamson6607]

Now this is exactly what is required country wide 👍👍

[@Blaze1204]

Not just the country wide world wide. I soooo want this in Canada and am really jealous that the UK has it.

[@ochayethegnu2915]

They’re distracting you from the time you’re losing by making you spend money and get fat.

[@glynn36]

Have you seen the cost to charge? No wonder it was empty.

[@brianadamson6607]

@@glynn36 best way to charge is at home with solar panels if you have them

[@MrKOenigma]

But if you're on a trip you will need some infrastructure... I personally don't need that much but "Bäcker Schüren" in Hilden was quite nice to visit on my trip to Netherlands

[@jeffbrooker5183]

Totally awesome one stop for the future. I would love to see facilities like this come to and develop all across North America.

[@mikedx2706]

I am surprised that no. one has built something similar here in California. It's very surprising that some coffee chain like Starbucks has not partnered with a charging operaator.

[@tomooo2637]

It is often due to private company restrictions or local regulations preventing this. In UK we have problems of some existing service stations have single EV supplier agreement.

[@georgesvak5332]

In America we are so behind EV charging infrastructure (not counting Tesla). Way too many regulations and rules. The greedy oil companies have very strong influence over it.

[@cowcar87]

This is my sentiment every time I see a new video from Fully Charged. It's upsetting. @@georgesvak5332

[@rp9674]

We are far behind how far ahead we should be - Southern California resident. A surprising amount of disinfo & EV ignorance from people much younger than me.

[@marioseoul]

Actually Starbucks has partnered with Volvo and ChargePoint for a Seattle to Denver route. Cheaper for Volvos but open to all.

[@benastwood]

The man is called Toddington!!! Destined to be a services manager! Very impressive place though

[@MarkGarnettUK]

It’s no coincidence; his brother is called Heston and their father owned many UK motorway service stations .

[@incognitotorpedo42]

Toddington is the preppiest name I've ever heard.

[@JamesSmith-qs4hx]

He is called funkopops enjoyer.

[@adamhardy8690]

He had a face of "aren't you supposed to be interviewing me, as opposed to telling me all my own information"

[@BabakDaemi]

I worked for Toddington in the past. Great guy. Wish the company all the luck they deserve.

[@rebym]

Cost? How could you not mention what it costs. It's VERY EASY to provide these type of services at high price. This needs to be available and it also needs to be cheap.

[@gribbler1695]

Prices are on their website.

[@bw1376]

@@gribbler1695 Yes, they're extortionate.

[@ChrisBenton-sg7yv]

High quality service is not cheap , there is a huge amount of investment to be paid for and keeping things smart is also expensive. If you fill up with petrol at a motorway services and it is anything resembling a pleasant experience - it will cost you !

[@MCSMIK]

Please answer this. Why are Gridserve chargers 79p/kWh and Tesla chargers are 44p/kWh

[@rinnin]

Don’t Tesla subsidise charging for their users worldwide?

[@girowinters]

Tesla is able to build theirs at a fraction of the cost. The other players have to recover higher costs.

[@tomooo2637]

​@@rinninno, their entire infrastructure is cheaper and everyone with a Tesla uses their chargers so high usage, and Tesla cars charge very fast so quick turn over, and they use batteries in some places to buy and sell electric. Ie the tels business model is sensible.

[@zapfanzapfan]

Because Tesla doesn't have restrooms, café and staff at the stations?

[@tomooo2637]

Neither do most charging stations in the UK. In fact, Shell and BP make money on their petrol/diesel stations shops. The chargers at service stops on main roads (motorways) have nothing to do with the service facilities, just like the petrol stations. Service stations are run as a franchise based on some foreign investment money, nothing to do with EV charging on petrol stations.

[@dalroth10]

Just brilliant and a clear demonstration that with the right approach it can be done. Very sincere congratulations to Gridserve for setting the new standard for EV charging! 👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@glynn36]

Are you serious ?? Have you seen the prices they charge ???

[@DavidKnowles0]

no one said the right way would be the cheap way.@@glynn36

[@pieman192]

Stick with petrol , he’s on the take

[@mitchib1440]

Where's the fundraiser to get more of these places installed across the country??? This is EXACTLY what the EV industry needs right now.

[@Peoplestariff]

Visited yesterday the place is brilliant thank you to Derek , Leroy & all the team . Toddington must be so proud

[@WayneGoss]

Loads more of these, all over the world, at off peak home Tarif rates...

[@Richard482]

Not going to happen. Gridserve does need to make money.

[@007jerkins]

I've been to the Gridserve in Norwich - so easy to use, clean and tidy.

[@stevecade857]

And so expensive. 79p kW running cost is more expensive than petrol which I don't have to spend 30 mins filling up and feel like I have to buy a £5 coffee to pass the time. I see these places as useful on major routes (if they lower the prices) where you need a break but I prefer destination charging where I leave my car to charge and go off and do something useful in my day.

[@freakstate]

Same sort of building and setup?

[@johnrostron2801]

Ridiculously high prices "charged" by Gridserve, around a year ago ot was 65p for a kWh, and as the cost of energy has fallen, Gridserve has managed to increase their prices to 79pkWh, way higher than petrol on a per mile comparison and without the taxes.

[@BobHannent]

Dover would be a great place for one of these, the charging options there could be better.

[@neptunejupitersaturn]

2nd 3rd and 4th this!

[@MrAdopado]

The issue is so well known that I know you're right, and I have never even been to Dover! 😀

[@BobHannent]

@@MrAdopado my family are down there, there's a Lidl that's not bad and a good charging spot near Folkestone but Dover itself has mostly 7kW chargers.

[@noisesoff3985]

A drone flying at Gatwick Airport and not far off the line of the runway. That must have taken a bit of arranging.

[@liquidusblue]

They probably didn't mention it. It's a well known fact EV drivers are a superior race so don't need to consult anyone else about their BS

[@AlisyaBurke]

Unwavering dedication and humility set you apart. Congrats!

[@ochayethegnu2915]

Bot

[@moomintroll2067]

Been driving an ev for just over two years now. My biggest gripe is not the state of the charging network, but rather how we’ve allowed them all to be so secretive about the cost. I can spot the price of petrol from 400 yards away from a petrol station, but why don’t we display ev charging prices similarly. Sorry Robert, but yet another video where you extol the virtues of a site without mentioning cost. Not everyone can afford top dollar and without displayed prices we find it hard to shop around. Please focus on this in the future.

[@petesig93]

1:13 - gotta LOVE that motto!! 😄😉 OMG, the cafes on the charger site, the shopping.... tap-to-go!! Wow, we SO need this for main highway charging stations in Australia. PLEASE send some over 🙏

[@alwaysallblacks]

£0.79 per kwh was expensive even during the height of the energy crisis.

[@shia_labeouf]

Massive respect to your drone pilot, those were some nice shots. Initially I thought they were sped up but looking again, you can see things/people moving at normal speed. Impressive.

[@alanwebber6681]

It all looks very lovely but at 79p per kwh its like saying a petrol station is lovely although it charges £3 per litre for its fuel.

[@norfunk]

Gridserve are great I've used the Norwich one and it was amazing. The issue is that (this isn't exclusive for Gridserve) immensely expensive. I charge at home for 9p 70p cheaper than this often it's 80p cheaper. It needs to be around the 40p mark to make any kind of sense if you use it regularly. It's fantastic for those times you use it for long trips any other time it's just to expensive.

[@phil9361]

Tesla charge non tesla drivers 60p kWh so why are most others charging 79-85p kWh

[@trevorberridge6079]

This kind of charging hub is for occasional use for most people. And it's a multi charger hub with very high speed units. You can't seriously expect it to cost the same as your daytime home tariff after an energy crisis (however false that crisis may be when every energy company in the UK has made all time record profits) . As Johnathan Porterfield of EcoCars says, I don't care about the occasional expense of the costlier chargers if they are convenient and reliable. I always balance cost and convenience. I do about half of my charging for free when I'm at the local supermarket. I've topped up tonight for free and I'll be visiting family near Gatwick tomorrow. I might get my first chance to use the Gatwick hub.

[@norfunk]

I absolutely understand that this is for occasional use in the current system, however we need to get to the point where it's for everyday use so that people who don't have off street parking for easy charging can just use this as a petrol station. Until we get to that point it's going to be a very hard sell for those that cannot charge at home. Why shouldn't it cost the same or similar to the base rate of power for a residential house. Large providers have significantly more buying power than I do and can bulk purchase power at guaranteed rates. I'd expect them to make ten to fifteen % profit on every KW sold. @@trevorberridge6079

[@angleseyandy9110]

​@@trevorberridge6079enjoy. While I continue to get 700 miles after 4 mins at a diesel pump giving me a cost of 9p a mile.

[@horiaopris8112]

@berridge6079 1 litre of diesel contains 10kwh of energy and costs £1.5. 10 kwh of energy at gridserve costs £9. EVs are 3 times more efficient than diesel cars (in summer when you don't need to heat up the cabin), so the cost per mile charging at gridserve is only twice that of a diesel car. Don't get me wrong, I love my EV and I charge at home off peak, but it's way more expensive to run an EV than a diesel if you can't charge at home.

[@De4dCert]

Beautiful site, its just us electric car drivers are being ripped off for price on the road per kwh

[@grantc8353]

Thanks for showing us. Those fpv shots were brilliant

[@adus123]

Hopefully one day in the future We can convert all our filling stations/ Petrol stations into electric forecourts With solar on the roofs. With an old pump In the corner for the old cars.

[@KlausKokholmPetersen]

Almost all filling stations in Denmark are installing chargers.

[@martino9134]

Spoke to Toddington at FCL silverstone back in 2019. Came across as a 'man with a plan' , open and genuine as to the challenges ahead. As a North and borders EV owner I'm a bit envious of the 3 sites now open and look forward to more ' appearing higher up the map.

[@lotusgroup123]

Yep, a man with a plan to make a fortune out of EV owners.

[@loriallen67]

We NEED this in the US.

[@OrangutanSquash]

In Florida a lot of Tesla chargers are in Wawa’s. If you’re not familiar they have all that stuff, coffee, sandwiches, snacks, soda, breakfast and lunches made to order. And generally clean restrooms. Oh they also sell gas to fossil cars owners. 😂 I love stopping for a charge at Wawa on a road trip, by the time I use the rest rooms, grab a coffee or snack I’m most of the way charged.

[@jeanneauowners]

Love Gridserve, have charged my MG4 at Gridserve Braintree several times. Helpful staff and chargers always work! Way to go Toddington! Malcolm

[@borinvlogs]

Why is the charging cost in the UK so expensive compared to the ones on Euroland?

[@Draigthedragon]

Partly, ask yourself who owns the power stations in France, Germany, etc. and who owns them in the UK. We subsidise the Europeans as a result of privatisation.

[@trevorberridge6079]

@@Draigthedragon You clearly don't know that EDF are French and are in charge of building Hinckley Point C and it's two sister reactors. Nor do you understand the connection between vested interests in government and the energy suppliers. Neither have you grasped that the French chose to cap electricity prices just as our government could have done if they chose to. It's got nothing to do with subsidising Europeans. WE were being subsidised by the EU until we left. WE were being supplied with electricity by the EU when we were in energy defecit (and some was also coming from German excess renewable energy). And that's not even counting the fact that WE were being given back more than half our contribution to the EU as an automatic discount. The people who benefit from privatisation are those who directly deal with members of our government and donate funds to their party. That's why energy companies in the UK are allowed to quadruple the base cost of energy while making all time record profits.

[@Draigthedragon]

@@trevorberridge6079 wow. What a rant. And you clearly didn't grasp the point I was making. Which was very much the generalisation of the example you gave of Hinckley Point C. Have fun with those essays, I suspect no one on KZbin has ever bothered to read more than two sentences of one of them.

[@trevorberridge6079]

@@Draigthedragon Who cares?

[@RichardNelson-h4b]

A lot of mugs in this country that is why. Quite happy to get ripped off with rip off charging costs and overpriced cars, and think it,s absolutely wonderful

[@Mykle1AZ]

So nice to see these things. In the south of France things are coming along nicely too. You find charging stations at many of the "aire's" (motorway service stations), including a new one just built along the A64 at the Aire d'Hastingues. Ionity has installed a dozen charging stations in each direction, including 2 stations on each side for vehicles towing, with all the plugs (CCS/Chademo/AC Type 2) and they have tap-to-pay as well as the app/QR code. Of course, being an aire, they have all the services (loo, resto, etc) ... not quite as nice as the Forecourt in this video but pretty good. It's about time.

[@jjamespacbell]

When it comes to airports I would much rather have a trickle charger where I park so I can jump out of the car and catch the flight than an SuperCharger where after I spend 20 minutes topping up and then have to find a place to park before going to the gate.

[@Yesterzine]

Some long term parking is now offered as a "We'll charge your car at some point while you're away" which works even better.

[@jjamespacbell]

@@Yesterzine Sounds like a good arrangement if the price is reasonable

[@mabsy30]

I have used the Gridserve in Norwich when I’ve visited a friend there for the last couple of years. Always such a lovely experience!

[@mattchristie1810]

... doesn't get better than this? At 2 minutes into the video I'd be done in a petrol car, and paid less for the privilege too.

[@jimpackard8059]

Yes. Only a mug thinks this is a clever idea.

[@Piezochem]

Massive well done to Gridserve. 🎉 Not only upping the standards of charging stations but generally of rest stops/service stations (I mean it’s not Tebay services but that’s a real one of a kind gem). I’m looking forward to visiting one day, hopefully there will soon be many more of these types of facilities dotted around the country.

[@angleseyandy9110]

Yes there can't be many businesses that have a mark up of 200% on what they buy and do nothing with. Fair play to them, for now, until the bubble bursts

[@Flickerbrain]

Wow, fantastic! Looking forward to these all over the world!

[@davidwicks9835]

Great video Rob! I hope Gridserve opens a forecourt in Ireland soon.

[@bw1376]

You wouldn't like their prices!

[@peterhetherington914]

Is this the second Gridserve site or are there more? We need more of these.

[@NigelWickenden]

Third, behind Braintree, Essex and Norwich, Norfolk.

[@Draigthedragon]

The third, the first is Braintree, Essex and the second Norwich.

[@peterhetherington914]

@@Draigthedragon thank you, I was aware of the site in Braintree, was not aware that one had been built in Norwich. Many more to come we hope, Toddington said he intends to open at 100 sites, can’t happen soon enough.

[@shonunezekiel]

@@peterhetherington914 the 4th one will be Knebworth Estate, Stevenage - seems like they have a healthy pipeline of other electric forecourts... I really hope they do well, it is almost too good to be true!

[@peterhetherington914]

@@shonunezekiel looking forward to them coming to Kent.

[@ElectricGearing]

I have used this facility in my E-Vito. Very easy to use and the facilities are amazing. You would easily get a high roof van in here no problem.

[@clintthomas1854]

Hi Rob, I get why you are so excited about this facility, it's something you talked about at 100 times and I'm sure 10 years ago when you got that leaf.

[@mikesimmonds1916]

Do you have to be named after a motorway services to work for gridserve?

[@christopherhartley6900]

I've been here 5 times now, genuinely a great facility!

[@onlineo2263]

Last weekend we drove upto Saltburn beach about 110 miles and 2 hours away for a neices birthday party. There are 2 chargers they were both in use. We were there 4 hours and went back to the car to collect some beach toys, finding one of the charging bays empty. So we parked up, plugged in, downloaded the app with really bad reception, signed in as a guest, with credit card details etc (took about 20 mins due to bad reception). The 22kwh charger started. We were getting 6kw, when we should have been getting 17kw. We needed 30kw to get home. Oh well I signed (hoping it sped up) and went back to the beach to join in the games. I got back to the car and found out it had charged for a total of 5 mins! Needless to say we stopped at an mgf petrol station for 25 mins on our way home. Totally unneeded stop on a day trip.

[@andymccabe6712]

Yes!!... .... unfortunately....this the current REALITY of public charging for the majority........!!!

[@gery4870]

Absoultely superb station !! Hopefully more countries could make the same. Greetings from Barcelona !

[@Stephen-Jones]

Was wondering when we'd get this episode after seeing a teaser for it in an earlier podcast. Almost makes me want to book a flight somewhere so I have an excuse to visit 😁

[@shonunezekiel]

Me too! Certainly next time I book a flight where I need to drive then this will tip me towards flying from Gatwick... Good to see there are some CHADEMO for my old banger (what's 'electric' for "old banger"?).

[@Stephen-Jones]

@@shonunezekiel zanger? zapper? 😉🤣

[@theairstig9164]

What I am seeing in horse traileria is 7kw to 22kw chargers appearing at regional wineries, tourist attractions, sports clubs and beer gardens. This makes sense

[@Clarkkentuk6]

Love the video as always! I'm still doing my research on buying my first EV, which is why I come to your channel! Looking forward to visiting the show over Easter. Have you seen the video from Harry's Garage on why he has gone back to Diesel for his Range Rover Sport? A joint video from both channels would be interesting!

[@PumpkinBecki]

I absolutely love going to Gridserve Braintree. I don't have to join a queue waiting for a charger to become available. The charging is really fast. If I have a problem, the staff are constantly monitoring the forecourt and will come and help. The facilities are clean and modern, and the Costa, Waitrose and WH Smiths are brilliant. I actually look forward to my journey from Kent to Essex in my Fiat 500e knowing Gridserve Braintree is there for me...we just need more please 🙏 ❤xx

[@UrdnotChuckles]

I would love to see things like this all over the world!

[@francesconicoletti2547]

Given the British weather, why aren’t all the chargers under cover ? It’s not like there are going to be any petrol fumes accumulating ? The chargers not under the main building could be under a Perspex awning.

[@stickleback73]

The future is here! Super to see this, we need more!!

[@2011ppower]

Need a couple of these along the A1😁

[@Roamor1]

thank you.

[@dafyddrees8252]

Nice video Robert! I'm hoping to get my first EV soon. I'd be interested to see how this place was built? Along the lines of "the grid can't cope", it would be nice to show people simply how big the cables are, for example, or how does it deliver 350kW to every charger. How feasible is it to build more of these stations? Oh yes, and why did you have to walk in the rain to get back to your car?

[@TechboyUK]

I've been to the one in Norfolk twice (when I was on holiday from Milton Keynes). It was great!

[@jchinuk]

An excellent piece, hopefully similar facilities will open across the country. The thought I had was how long before drivers of ICE drivers start experiencing range anxiety, as filling stations are converted into charging stations?

[@aantonic]

hmmm i dont think you willl happen to see that, maybe the other way around. So what you have against ICE owners? you want to protect the planet? or u just a...s

[@markleon411]

This is fabulous. These need to be at every airport around the world and at every major truck stop. However, in Australia, it's more about quantity than quality when you have such vast distances to travel.

[@slarti42uk]

I'm privileged to live in Norwich and finally have an EV to be able to use the GridServe here. It's what I can only imagine the first class lounge is like. Really lovely experience.

[@colshaw793]

Using the lift when the stairs are right there?

[@EVnStevenApp]

Once upon a time, there was a trustworthy and proud new EV owner named Jake and a friendly property manager named Susan. Jake wanted to trickle-charge his EV using the common area electrical outlet next to his parking stall. However, Susan didn't have the budget to pay for the cost of installing a metered charging station. Wanting to help Jake, Susan suggested they install EVnSteven. Thanks to this one simple app, they both lived happily ever after 💚💚

[@stuartlowe3196]

I’ve just visited this facility before flying off on holiday. Very impressed by all facilities on what is a a small footprint. Watch out when you leave signage poor to prevent you turning left and driving through a long stay carpark !!! Also costs reflect the investment it was pricy !!!!

[@pip5461]

Brilliant services... are the costs any higher...?

[@ProfSimonHolland]

Toddington's face when you asked for wifi. makes me feel old ! hahaha

[@MichaelSmith-fn5no]

This looks great. Not far from me so may have to visit. I'm assuming you don't have to go through the £5 drop off fee area to get in or out?

[@esm7708]

Yes but 79p/kwh. They increased it from 69p/kwh as the whole sale price reduced. And no discount for airport workers...

[@Xxj-y1n]

I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere but am curious as to how long a home charging point is expected to last. I was quoted £1000 to have one fitted and if its life expectancy is 5 years then potentially that's another £1000 plus. Surely that and the higher insurance costs and inevitable rise in electricity costs will make EVs at least as expensive to run as an ICE car?

[@TheChromeRonin]

100% agree. I rented a Fiat 500e for a couple of days in Auckland, NZ when I was there last, and looking for a career was easy, but they're all out in the open, no cover. We picked a BP charger in Ellerslie just because it had a cafe there, and we were lucky it was unoccupied when we arrived, because there was only one charger that could do CCS or Chademo. But we got 50KW rate and up from 60-95% in 20 min for about $7 while having a coffee at the WildBean. (Id note that only my motorcycle offers cheaper $ per kilometre than this for a public fuel up point). This charging station here though would be a game changer in any city.

[@hausi78]

Does GRIDSERVE support "Plug & Charge" (standard that allows for just plugging in to start charging)?

[@tonymaxwell303]

Having been an EVist for 6 months now I would say these places need to be everywhere. However, public chargers are far too expensive. If it wasn’t for the fact I can charge at work for free I would seriously be reconsidering being an EVist.

[@joeboatman934]

It looks great and I noted that some chargers are under cover from the rain - unlike most places!

[@bw1376]

The prices are astronomical.

[@joeboatman934]

@@bw1376 Yes, I agree. The government need to reduce the VAT from 20% to 5% - the rate that we pay at home. Even then, it's still high

[@johngaffney1671]

Very impressive. Nothing like it in Oz

[@pascalbruyere7108]

How much per KWh? What’s the point of this documentary if this is not included? Or did I miss it?

[@badchefi]

I entered this idea in a business competition back in 2015 - Happy that it finally shows up😂

[@2Neilx3]

Would be good to have some competition for Gridserve. Another company building similar dedicated ev service stations. Get more stations popping up. Possibly keep the prices down too

[@peterjol]

wonder if it would be a good idea to add just a few small hotel style rooms for anyone who wants somewhere to stay the night before they continue their journey. Perhaps even something like those Japanese sleeping pod hotels.

[@robinbennett5994]

Gatwick already has a few large hotels on the site, a few more just off-site, dozens more that are close enough to run shuttle buses, and countless B&Bs within a couple of miles. Also, it's not really on the way to anywhere - it's only about half an hour to the sea.

[@angleseyandy9110]

Yeah let's start planning overnight stays just so you can drive a bit further. Insanity rules.

[@kickedinthecalfbyacow7549]

@@angleseyandy9110I’ve got some bad news for you, hotels already exist, they’ve been around for quite a while

[@darwinskeeper421]

Up until now my dream rest stop was a Pilot Flying J truck stop. They had gas, clean restrooms and good coffee. This place just blew PFJ away.

[@ytdood]

I used to be a fan of Gridserve but with their current pricing, I'd rather find a tesla charger open to all, much cheaper and much more reliable. That said, more options is good, but there needs to be a push from influencers like yourself to get the price to a more reasonable level. We're talking more than 10 times the off price some have at their homes. This isn't even cheaper than running an efficient ICE car, so why would a typical ICE driver want to move to EVs? Money talks, now more than ever.

[@trevorberridge6079]

I couldn't wait to use the Gridserve Hub at Braintree and it was fantastic. Beat any petrol service station I'd ever been to hands down. Over thirty chargers covering every type of car and all the Rapids were running at high speeds. Even the Chademo I needed for my Leaf was running twice as fast as I'd ever seen before. The whole place was good looking, clean and functional. And the eagerly awaited Gatwick hub is now even better. Gridserve had ambitions to open up 100 hubs across the UK. By the time they get even half that number the general infrastructure will have expanded exponentially and the final well worn myths about charging will have drawn their last breath. And Gridserve will be setting the standard for others to follow just as the Electric Highway did before them.

[@mark_from_aus]

Does it have facilities to pump your tires? It's something I didn't think about until I needed to go to an old servo to get a top up.

[@trustinflames1022]

I agree we need more of these around the country. I went to the Norwich one for a look around after that was completed and was rather impressed. Maybe once we have some more of these around the country people may seriously consider EV and for the price of using the public charging network to come down also. Myself I am just wanting for the purchase price of the car to come down in price.

[@XxBec3509]

How did the make the glass in the windows ?

[@user-jt1jv8vl9r]

I remember when their first electric forecourt was 24p… nowadays they don’t advertise the price

[@rob3342421]

Where else are gridserve, this is great but it needs to be in way more places, is there a way to keep up to date with where their new sites are?

[@bw1376]

Having looked at the charging costs, I don't see anything great about it.

[@PeterKelly74]

this is brilliant. its the equivalent of the corner gas/petrol station (with cafe) and its where this needs to go.

[@NibblyPig]

As great as it is, lidl is cheaper, and a coffee + croissant there won't cost me 6 quid. And they're all over the place.

[@armuk]

do lidl sell hot drinks? know they have bakery but wasn't aware of any hot drink provision

[@robinbennett5994]

None of the Lidls anywhere near Gatwick have chargers, and they certainly don't have 22!

[@NibblyPig]

Actually I'm not sure, I don't drink coffee after 5pm and I'm usually driving in the evening. I stop at the one in Coventry all the time which is opposite a Morrisons, though. I suppose I was speaking metaphorically, it is a cheap place for a bite to eat and a drink at least. The cost to charge is about 12p/unit cheaper than this place as well. You can always go to a Tesco superstore instead, Coventry also has one 5 mins from Lidl. I just like lidl's bakery and it's opposite Morrisons which have a salad bar that is included in the meal deal. £3.50 for that and a drink and a choccy bar! Yum. Supermarkets are always better than these overpriced charging places, just pick one that has fallback options nearby in case it's full. I found a few dotted around England that are nearby alternative chargers but I very rarely find them to be in use, and if they are I either wait 5 mins or go elsewhere. Coventry is my fave though, lidl, tesco, and if you're desperate, geniepoint in morrisons, all close together. And their lidl is literally 30 seconds off the motorway, so it's no detour for my journeys.

[@trevorberridge6079]

Lidl has no ground breaking tech in it's car park last time I looked.

[@StefNoci]

The numbers just dont work. Doing a Google search currently 1 million ev cars in the uk, 200,000 of them charge publicly the rest at home. Whats going to happen when the current 33 million ICE car users go electric and 50% 17 million EV cars have no access to home charges. Let's hope the UK government adopts a better strategy to building public EV stations than it has to building houses..... fingers crossed everybody

[@8antipode9]

I am SOOOO jealous. The US needs to catch up on this stuff!

[@MrAdopado]

Hey, not just the US ... the rest of the UK is jealous too!

[@chrisyson]

How much per kWh to charge? I’m finding public chargers 50kwh and above are working out more expensive than petrol per mile

[@aantonic]

and it will get even more expensive when alot of d....b people buy into EV scam, then no more back.

[@79blustone]

They could do with one of these on the A31 Ringwood, its one of the main routes to Devon and Cornwall. There isn't any competition in the area for one and I think it would be a good opportunity to serve the public whilst turning a decent profit

[@AndrewTSq]

I think we miss the point. I do not want to go to the restroom, or eat while charging. I want to charge to full in 3 minutes, and then drive away again.

[@billreynolds3227]

How about getting existing sites up and working reliably? My local one at the old Aust services has a 60% failure rate for me.Only had a EV for 3 months and found it U/S 3 visits out of 5!

[@shaunkeasey3674]

So how much is it per kwh?

[@FrankieLimes]

What GridServe and Toddington Harper are doing is great. When working a I would travel to Suffolk on a regularish basis, always used Braintree hub to recharge. Great facility. Since GridServe raised their cost per kWh from 69 to 79 pence per kWh they are not my go to chargers. Toddington Harper has had a few interviews of late, none of the interviewers that I have listened to have asked the question why a 10 pence increase? All the good stuff is discussed, solar farms, battery storage, charging hubs. Maybe we need Laura Kuenssberg to interview Toddington Harper?

[@andylewis210]

How many places like this are there in the U.K. and where are they located?

[@turningwheelsyangge2770]

I really want to build some of these here in Australia !