Gridserve is to open up its business model to partners globally, helping to speed up the worldwide roll-out of EV charging infrastructure.

Gridserve’s ‘Sun-To-Wheel Ecosystem’ comprises hybrid solar & battery farms, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and EV solutions

The announcement, made today (8 November) at the COP26 summit, will see the firm export its ‘Sun-To-Wheel Ecosystem’ – comprising hybrid solar & battery farms, electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and electric vehicle solutions – to like-minded partners across the world interested in accelerating net zero transport initiatives.

This in turn will cut the timeframes needed to deploy EV charging infrastructure en masse.

Toddington Harper, founder and CEO of Gridserve, said: “To be serious about addressing the climate crisis, we need to think and act on a global scale. That’s why today, at COP26, we are launching the Gridserve Partner Network to share our knowledge, expertise and experience from delivering and operating the leading charging network in the UK, to help like-minded partners to also rapidly deliver the best possible EV charging networks at scale across the world.”

Gridserve opened its Electric Forecourt in Essex in December 2020 and plans to open several more in the next 12 months; in total, more than 100 Electric Forecourts are planned to be built as part of a £1bn+ investment programme.

More than 50 additional Electric Hubs, each featuring 6-12x 350kW chargers, are also being built across the UK in a separate £100m+ rollout, with the first site opened at Rugby Services earlier this year and several additional sites now also under construction. In the last 100 days alone, Gridserve has installed new chargers at 100 locations.

Gridserve also builds and operates hybrid solar & battery farms and owns and operates the Electric Highway motorway network bought from Ecotricity earlier this year.

It’s also invested millions of pounds into research and development to deliver and operate net zero electric charging infrastructure that’s functional, reliable and easy to use, supported by Hitachi Capital UK Plc and TPG’s The Rise Fund, and launched a net-zero EV leasing solution.

The new Partner Network provides the opportunity for partners to invest themselves, or co-invest alongside Gridserve, to establish their own EV charging networks in partnership with the business.

Toddington Harper added: “Everything we have achieved in the UK has required us to overcome massive complexities and challenges – experience we’ve spent years developing. It’s now time to share those learnings with partners across the world and accelerate the shift to net zero transport. Our Partner Network allows us to do just that, enabling others to capitalise on our market-leading EV charging solutions within their own networks and geographies.”

Robert Gordon, CEO of Hitachi Capital (UK) Plc, added: “We’re incredibly excited to support Gridserve in its next phase of growth as it launches the Partner Network to export its unique expertise across the world and help like-minded partners everywhere to deliver sustainable energy and move the needle on climate change.”