THE largest EV charging hub in the South West has opened on the A38.

Osprey Charging, one of the UK’s leading electric vehicle (EV) charging networks, has opened the largest ultra-rapid EV charging hub in the South West – a 16-bay dedicated EV re-charging location at Salmon’s Leap, Buckfastleigh on the A38 Devon Expressway.

The 1.6 acre site is open and ready to serve the high volumes of seasonal traffic expected in Devon this summer.

A spokesperson for Osprey adds: ‘It will also critically provide local residents, businesses and visitors with reliable EV infrastructure, helping to improve air quality, reduce noise pollution and support local decarbonisation efforts.

]Salmon’s Leap is Osprey’s first land acquisition. The car park has been re-designed specifically for EV charging: there are two extra-long bays for towing vehicles, extra-wide bays for full disabled access, and all bays are laid out in Osprey’s unique format that optimises space and charger ease-of-use, so that the hub accommodates all types of vehicle and driver.

‘Strawberry Fields farm shop opens on-site soon, offering a range of their own homemade and homegrown produce and many of their own bakery items and fresh ready meals. This will be alongside a coffee shop with plenty of their homemade ‘food to go’ options.

‘The site is easily accessible from both the Plymouth-bound and Exeter-bound carriageways of the A38, and is the ideal place to charge an EV whilst taking a journey break or visiting the farm shop. A planning application is underway for a service-station style canopy, to further enhance the site.

‘The 16 high-power charge points at the hub are compatible with every rapid-charging vehicle on the market. Each is capable of 300kW charging for vehicles able to accept this high power, without wasting any power on lower-capability cars thanks to the latest innovative load-balancing technology. This means customers of the hub can add 100 miles of range in just 15-25 minutes.

Ian Johnston, CEO of Osprey Charging, said:

‘I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve created at Salmon’s Leap. We purchased the land so have been able to precisely design the space and install hardware that maximises availability and ease of use of chargers for all types of vehicles and drivers.

‘Our largest site yet, it is a significant milestone for the Osprey team as we work tirelessly to ensure that our nationwide infrastructure deployment of rapid EV charging stations continues at an unprecedented pace.’

Osprey installed as many chargers in the first quarter of this year as it did during the whole of 2022. From January to March this year, 142 new rapid Osprey EV charging stations went live in 10 weeks, equalling the number of charge points installed throughout 2022.

EV uptake continues to increase across the country, more than a fifth of new vehicles registered so far in 2023 in the UK are electric. Ahead of the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles, more and more of UK drivers are looking for public EV charging as standard.

Mr Johnston added: ‘Osprey remains committed to providing safe, reliable and accessible EV charging for all. The network is consistently ranked in the top 3 UK rapid networks for customer satisfaction by Zap-Map and its hubs are consistently scored highly for safety and accessibility by independent inspection body ChargeSafe.’

Osprey Charging Network is a UK-wide, rapid electric vehicle charging network. Osprey fund, install and manage their network on behalf of landlord partners and on their own land. All Osprey chargers accept contactless payment, App payments, RFID payments and payment through all major third-party payment methods including fleet cards. Every charging point is also powered by 100% renewable electricity.

More information on Osprey can be found at https://ospreycharging.co.uk