UK’s Electric Transport Network Accelerates with New High-Power EV Hubs and Charger Milestones

Welcome to Net Zero News, your daily briefing on the UK’s transition to a low‑carbon future.

The UK’s electric vehicle (EV) charging network is rapidly expanding with multiple new high‑power hubs, national infrastructure milestones, and groundbreaking projects transforming transport decarbonisation. Key developments include:

• IONITY has significantly expanded its ultra‑rapid charging presence, exceeding 700 publicly accessible 350 kW+ chargers in the UK. This doubling in size for the third consecutive year evidences its strategic role in making high‑speed charging available nationwide. The network now comprises approximately one‑third of the UK’s public 350 kW+ chargers, enabling compatible EVs to charge from 10 % to 80 % in under 15 minutes. IONITY has plans to grow to over 1,000 charging points by end of 2026, with new sites expected at Fort William, Inverness and locations including south Birmingham in the first quarter of 2026. These chargers are powered exclusively by renewable energy.

• The eFREIGHT 2030 consortium has launched the UK’s first megawatt‑scale charging hub for heavy goods vehicles (eHGVs) at East Midlands Gateway. Featuring a HyperCharger capable of delivering up to 1 MW, it enables future eHGVs to recharge in under 30 minutes. The site, supporting Kuehne+Nagel’s UK operations, is the first of 35 planned depot charging hubs under the Department for Transport–funded Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) Programme.

• Fleete, aided by £1 million in Thames Freeport seed capital, has broken ground on a 5 MW shared‑user EV charging hub at the Port of Tilbury. Scheduled for operational readiness by December 2025, the hub will feature 16 rapid chargers 12 supplied by Heliox and 4 via Voltempo through the eFREIGHT 2030 project. Positioned at a major freight interchange, it supports scalable electrification of logistics operations.

• InstaVolt has reached its 2,000th ultra‑rapid charger milestone, doubling its installation over the past two years and targeting a 3,000th by next year. The latest hub, featuring six chargers, is at Blackfen in the London Borough of Bexley—strategically located on a key commuter route to enhance access.

• The UK has hit major national infrastructure landmarks. As of October 2025, the public charging network had 86,798 charging devices across 44,142 locations a 22 % year‑on‑year growth. Rapid/ultra‑rapid chargers (50 kW+) accounted for 17,734 devices at 6,582 sites, and charging hubs (six or more rapid units) numbered 705, a 31 % increase since end of 2024. Notably, London retained the highest number of chargers, followed by the South East and West Midlands.

What this means:

Transport electrification infrastructure in the UK is scaling robustly across passenger and freight sectors. Ultra‑rapid roll‑outs by operators like IONITY and InstaVolt are slashing charge times and easing range anxiety. Meanwhile, megawatt‑class depots such as East Midlands Gateway and Port of Tilbury pave the way for zero‑emission heavy freight operations. Policy backing, via ZEHID funding and Freeport capital, reinforces that public and private partnerships are essential in delivering next‑generation charging capacity at speed and scale.

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