The electric highway is with us. If you are travelling in an electric car, you can get all the way from Southampton to Scotland using a network of fast charging points – and thanks to the solar and wind energy provided by Ecotricity, it will cost you nothing.
The electric highway provides the infrastructure for a revolutionary change in transport, which is the second biggest source of climate changing carbon emissions.
Ecotricity, in partnership with Nissan, has installed electric vehicle rapid-charging infrastructure at over half the UK's motorway service stations. This addresses so-called "range anxiety" which has been seen as one of the barriers to electric vehicle adoption.
After the initial installation of fast chargers in 2012, last year saw a rapid acceleration, with chargers placed at over 100 locations and contracts secured with operators including Welcome Break, Moto and Roadchef services, as well as Ikea stores. The charging points allow drivers of electric cars to charge their vehicles from 0-80% in around 20 minutes on motorways including the M4, M3 and M23.
The charge points use a membership card scheme to allow access to the network. Charging and membership are currently free.
Ecotricity has run a national public relations campaign to spread the word about the charging network, as well as having an active presence on online forums for electric vehicle owners. Membership is growing from 25 new cards a week in July 2013, to 100 a week six months later.
The use of the electric chargers also went up by 2,000% from January to December of 2013.
Nicolette Fox is part of the wordworks network
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