Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Gridserve Charger Sites in UK [megathread]

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Gridserve's twitter account make pretty depressing reading, lots of issues with their new chargers being offline (so won't charge) or delivering far lower speeds than is really useful. Clicking around their map it's hard to find any sites where there isn't at least one charger out of action.

That is depressing. It's also depressing that they are still only single or double 50Kw machines anyway. All of Gridserve's planned hubs seem to be off the major motorway routes. I don't know why they don't go for some of the major sites like Tibshelf before looking at the A-roads.
 
That is depressing. It's also depressing that they are still only single or double 50Kw machines anyway. All of Gridserve's planned hubs seem to be off the major motorway routes. I don't know why they don't go for some of the major sites like Tibshelf before looking at the A-roads.
I imagine just like Tesla they are putting the chargers where they can get permission and the necessary power exists. Motorway services are typically in the middle of nowhere so have no suitable high power grid connections for a big EV charging hub. As soon as the grid connections are updated the chargers follow soon after.
 
  • Like
Reactions: btc1k
Gridserve's twitter account make pretty depressing reading, lots of issues with their new chargers being offline (so won't charge) or delivering far lower speeds than is really useful. Clicking around their map it's hard to find any sites where there isn't at least one charger out of action.

They have a lot of chargers so does this represent a lot? or not? I cannot tell? As others have said the speed may be due to available power. Disappointing if a lot are breaking though no excuse for that really. I don't understand why so many EV chargers are broken so much of the time. They are basically just an oversized mobile phone charger. No moving parts. They should be bullet proof.
 
Gridserve Bromborough plans have been submitted.


1632406956935.png
 
  • Informative
Reactions: cezdoc
Their model and choice of locations does still baffle me. I’m really not convinced.

Existing ‘destinations’ with real reasons to go already exist. Why go to Bromborough when Cheshire Oaks has retail & 2 motorways. Surely a more logical choice. Someone will wire up Cheshire oaks and then where does that leave Gridserve. They may be uber-avant-garde in which case why not make more sensible investments first.

If they’re banking on the on-street parking EV owners I think they’re crackers.
 
Their model and choice of locations does still baffle me. Why go to Bromborough when Cheshire Oaks has retail & 2 motorways. Surely a more logical choice. Someone will wire up Cheshire oaks and then where does that leave Gridserve. They may be uber-avant-garde in which case why not make more sensible investments first.
As a former HGV driver, the same can be said of the Braintree site. Braintree isn’t exactly on the beaten track. It’s 20 odd miles from M11, 15 from A12 at Chelmsford. The A120 is pretty much the only main route that runs by it.
But I don’t think that’s the point. In 10-15 years, I believe these sites and many similar to them will be plentiful and most decent size towns will have at least one that is there to serve the local population in the way that 5 or 6 petrol stations do in towns today.
Right now, I think Gridserve are looking to build wherever they can in an attempt to prove the concept works. Bromborogh will serve The Wirral not because it’s a destination charging hub for the traveller, but because there is a population concentration that will use it in the same way they’ll use the local petrol station. That’s just my opinion…
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Their model and choice of locations does still baffle me. I’m really not convinced.

Existing ‘destinations’ with real reasons to go already exist. Why go to Bromborough when Cheshire Oaks has retail & 2 motorways. Surely a more logical choice. Someone will wire up Cheshire oaks and then where does that leave Gridserve. They may be uber-avant-garde in which case why not make more sensible investments first.

If they’re banking on the on-street parking EV owners I think they’re crackers.

I think the answer is that they are targeting a local market with their forecourts and the long-distance market with their motorway service hubs.
 
I’m not sure there are many company car drivers without off-street parking, surely that’s a small group.

In a world where nearly every office, car park and street lamp will have chargers who would drive to a site and just wait to charge, oh and maybe buy a newspaper or a subway. Madness. Nobody will want to wait to charge. You’ve got to be going for something else for a period of time. I just can’t see why I’d go to a Gridserve over some I needed to go anyway.
 
I’m not sure there are many company car drivers without off-street parking, surely that’s a small group.

In a world where nearly every office, car park and street lamp will have chargers who would drive to a site and just wait to charge, oh and maybe buy a newspaper or a subway. Madness. Nobody will want to wait to charge. You’ve got to be going for something else for a period of time. I just can’t see why I’d go to a Gridserve over some I needed to go anyway.

What if you were a taxi driver, a van driver, visiting friends and family, on holiday, working away from home, on a day trip, rural dweller without a local lamppost, retired so no access to workplace charging?
 
  • Like
Reactions: ringi
Thanks to a long delay on the A12 Northbound today I diverted to the superchargers at Gridserve Braintree instead of those at Marks Tay.
The whole site & its facilities are extremely impressive (if a little under utilised during the time I was there) & interesting to see several ICE cars park to browse as well as a couple driving rapidly through in an apparent search for fuel.

From 40% SOC the car achieved 166kW from the 250kW chargers and 20 mins to 90% - just enough time to get a coffee and look around. I encourage anyone who has the time to divert from the A12 or M11 superchargers and use Braintree - it deserves our support and we all need Gridserve to succeed.

Although my charge used free referral miles, using any of the other generic chargers is advertised at a very reasonable 24p/kW

Gridserve Braintree.jpeg
 
I heard yesterday that Gridserve have made formal application for a site at Markham Vale, off the M1 near Chesterfield. It's within a large development site, where they see a lot of businesses setting up (therefore commuter traffic on top of passing motorway trade)
20+ DC charge points plus 8 superchargers, 6/8 AC points
Site application is for a 25-year lease, which is a huge commitment in business terms. Clearly they see a strong future in EV charging.
 
I heard yesterday that Gridserve have made formal application for a site at Markham Vale, off the M1 near Chesterfield. It's within a large development site, where they see a lot of businesses setting up (therefore commuter traffic on top of passing motorway trade)
20+ DC charge points plus 8 superchargers, 6/8 AC points
Site application is for a 25-year lease, which is a huge commitment in business terms. Clearly they see a strong future in EV charging.
I assume someone has already picked up on the fact that Toddington seems to create a separate company for each forecourt so if you look on companies house:

You find:
MARKHAM VALE ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD (12451374)
YORK EAST ELECTRIC FORECOURT LIMITED (13014201)
PLYMOUTH CENTRE ELECTRIC FORECOURT LIMITED (12659068)
BAR HILL ELECTRIC FORECOURT LIMITED (13014350)
DOVER ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD (12517095)
ETON ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD (12516463)
BROMBOROUGH ELECTRIC FORECOURT LIMITED (12451433)
YEOVIL ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD (12453657)
LEEDS WEST ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD (12449676)

WARWICK SOUTH ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD (12418457)
GATESHEAD ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD (12299780)

which are presumably a selection of the sites they are pursuing in the near future

edit: missed a few:
HARTLEPOOL SOLAR ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD 13603833
MINEHEAD SOLAR ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD 10270637
NEVENDON ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD 13603832
NORWICH EAST ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD 12037212
STEVENAGE ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD 10270523
UCKFIELD SOLAR ELECTRIC FORECOURT LTD (10268743)
 
Last edited:
25 yrs. that seem short sighted given infrastructure costs. You’d want options on lease extension…. and break clauses if you need it.
At Markham Vale the major infrastructure is already in place, as it is a commercial / industrial / distribution development on a former colliery site. It has a new junction onto the M1 (29a) as part of the setup.
Most development leases are typically 10-15 years at most, so a 25 year lease is a rarity & strong showing of belief in their business model.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ringi