GRIDSERVE launches eHGV charging station at Nissan Sunderland

The GRIDSERVE charging network has opened an electric heavy goods vehicle (eHGV) charging facility the Nissan Sunderland car plant.

The £1.4m facility has been designed to support the electrification of Nissan Sunderland’s supply chain logistics. 

Launching with 10 high power eHGV charging bays, the charging depot will initially support a fully-electric fleet of 25 trucks operated by Fergusons, Yusen and BCA. These HGVs travel over 1.5 million miles each year, collecting parts from across the UK and delivering finished vehicles to the Port of Tyne.

Nissan Sunderland predicts this initiative could save the equivalent of 1,500 tonnes of CO2 annually.

The Nissan Sunderland eHGV is the latest location in the GRIDSERVE Electric Freightway rollout, a project made possible by the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

Daniel Kunkel, chief executive of GRIDSERVE, said: “The decarbonisation of transport logistics is much stronger and reaches far wider when done in partnership. This is why, as leaders of the Electric Freightway consortium, we are so pleased to support this UK first with Nissan and their haulage partners.

“Depot charging is critical for the electrification of HGVs, going hand in hand with future public infrastructure developments. As a first shared usage site, this location is leading the way in sustainable freight logistics.”

Michael Simpson, vice president supply chain management, Nissan AMIEO, said: “It is fantastic for our plant to be leading the charge to an electrified supply chain with this project. The charging station looks brilliant and is a big step forward in Nissan’s EV36Zero vision.”

Nissan Sunderland’s EV36Zero programme, a £3bn investment in partnership with battery producer Envision AESC and Sunderland City Council, will see the plant evolve further as an EV manufacturing facility that brings together electric vehicles, zero carbon energy and battery manufacturing.