Gridserve has bypassed the bottleneck in getting rapid chargers connected to upgraded grid connections by installing a huge battery pack and generators powered by vegetable oil to cover the peak periods of use.

The Electric Super Hub site at Moto Ferrybridge has six new high-power chargers, but behind the scenes these are initially being powered by an microgrid system that uses second-life batteries in conjunction with vegetable oil generators. It features a 150kWh battery pack, made from used electric car car batteries, that controls the supply of power to the chargers. They are charged by diesel generators running on vegetable oil.​

The microgrid is a temporary solution to power the Electric Super Hub, which will ultimately have 12 High Power chargers once the permanent grid connection is in place. The Moto site is on the interchange of the M62/A1(M), accessible from both directions. 

The battery and generator approach has allowed Gridserve to bring six of the new chargers online now instead of waiting until the permanent grid connection comes online in a few months. The company will monitor feedback to understand the customer experience and charging speeds while awaiting grid connection.

Gridserve claim these produce 90% less carbon emissions than traditional generators, so in order to stay net zero, the company is also planting trees to offset the remaining 10% carbon emissions this process is unable to remove.

Toddington Harper, CEO at Gridserve, said: “We are focussed on meeting the Government’s target of delivering at least six High Power chargers at our motorway partner locations by the end of this year. Electric Super Hubs typically require new grid connections, which are outside of our control and often take much longer to deliver than installing all the chargers. 

“As a result, we’ve been working through solutions to get chargers working as quickly as possible, and we are excited to trial this microgrid solution running on batteries and vegetable oil, as this has enabled us to get the chargers operating many months before the grid connection was available. It’s not perfect, but on balance, we feel it makes sense as an interim solution. Of course, if there are people out there who have even better interim solutions that can be delivered within the timeframes we are working to, we would be delighted to hear from you.”

The new Ferrybridge chargers will be online earlier as a result of the microgrid