The facility is now open to the public and can power up 12 engines at once, marking the start of a major new infrastructure rollout.
Source, a new operator in the UK’s electric vehicle [EV] market owned by SSE and TotalEnergiws, is behind the hub. This will be the first of 300 sites the company intends on opening over the next five years, making the experience “smarter, faster, and truly customer centric”.
The Ocean Terminal facility at Leith incudes six 160kW chargers which can allow users to “charge and go” in approximately 15minutes. According to a spokesperson for the company, Source hubs are designed with speed, simplicity and reliability in mind, and are powered by renewable energy.
‘The EV industry has reached a turning point, and we’re here to lead it into uncharted territories,” said Deepa Chandrasekaran, managing director at Source. ‘At Source, we’re not just building charge points, we’re building confidence. Our ambition is to capture 20 per cent of the UK and Ireland’s ultra-rapid market by delivering hubs that are easy to find, easy to use, and built for the future.’
‘We are creating a re-imagined Ocean Terminal to better suit the needs of both the local community and visitors. Sustainability is central to our thinking and having a Source hub on site, its first in the UK, perfectly aligns with our goals,’ said Chris Richardson, divisional managing director of Ambassador Group, owner of Ocean Terminal. ‘We know EV drivers are looking for efficient and reliable charging but also something to do whilst they charge, and the new centre will be a great place for them to spend that time.’
The UK is currently racing to catch up on EV charge hubs amid concerns infrastructure is becoming far outnumbered by the number of electric vehicles on its roads. However, Scotland fares comparatively well overall, ranking fourth for coverage in a regional league table.
Image: Ernest Ojeh / Unsplash
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