Worried that it will take forever to charge your electric vehicle? Not sure you can do that trip because you don’t know if there is a charging station along the way? Well that is about to change as ultra-fast chargers are being built around the country and Europe. Ionity, in conjunction with the Extra MSA Group, has expanded its UK network with a 350kW high-power charging station for electric vehicles at Leeds Skelton Lake Services, located on the M1 J45 east of Leeds.
Ionity is a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz, Ford, BMW and the Volkswagen Group with Audi and Porsche. It has the ambitious goal to establish 400 high-power charging stations across Europe, paving the way to pan-European EV travel.
Michael Hajesch, CEO of Ionity, commented, “Significant investment has helped establish and grow Ionity’s network to make seamless, high-speed, long-distance electric mobility across Europe a reality. Providing customers with unparalleled levels of service has been key to our business from day one.”
This gallery shows you the latest Ionity high-speed charger installations in Leeds (UK), Barcelona (Spain) and Brenner (Italy).
The company's futuristic and cutting edge 350kW UK charging network is powered by 100% renewable energy and is capable of charging times as low as 8 minutes for a 100km charge.
This the fourth Ionity station to open to the public in Great Britain. Leeds is the first UK charging station equipped with six of Ionity’s new award-winning 350kW chargers, that feature a new design and improved functionality.
Ionity premiered these ultra-fast chargers at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. The new advanced charging station uses halo lighting to provide customers with information about the charging status of the battery. Also, the position and design of the charging cable facilitate the process of attaching it to the car.
Ionity plans to open a further seven high-power charging facilities with Extra MSA Group during 2020 and 40 sites in the UK as Marcus Groll, COO of Ionity explained: “Offering our new chargers in the UK is hugely important for EVs. Drivers travelling to or via Leeds can rapidly recharge their vehicles with 100% renewable energy. Our network will bring 40 High Power Charging stations to the UK, providing much-needed infrastructure for the e-Mobility revolution.”
Drivers can now charge their electric cars in less than 20 minutes depending on their vehicle’s charging capacity, using renewable energy from the Ionity high-power charging points.
As charging times are becoming increasingly shorter and the infrastructure for EV keeps widening and improving, electric cars will soon become the only smart choice that buyers can make. The challenge right now seems to be the number of charge points per location. Ionity has just over 200 stations with almost 900 charging points, giving you an average of just over four places to charge your car at each location – compared to petrol stations that can often have 20 or more pumps.
At WhichEV, we are thrilled to see a reliable and cutting-edge infrastructure being developed. It will help to strengthen the electric vehicle market as buyers will have fewer worries in the back of their minds. We'd also like to see more support from governments, to help increase the number of charging points per destination.