I bought a £52k EV & was excited to use UK's biggest charging hub… but it's a nightmare to find & no one knows it exists | The Sun

AN EV owner who was excited to use the UK's biggest charging hub says it's a nightmare to find and no one knows it exists.

The mega hub is situated at the vast National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham which attracts thousands of people daily to an array of concerts, events and business meetings.

But many have no idea about the brand new multimillion-pound site – opened last month by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

A worker at the Hilton Hotel bang opposite said: "We know nothing about a new electric charging station at the NEC. Where is it?"

When The Sun Online visited the West Midlands premises, we caught up with electric car fan Michael Lawlor, who was enjoying a quick snack at the Starbucks cafe on site, while fast charging his vehicle.

Michael, from Brentwood, Essex, had stopped off at the power base despite struggling to find its location on his Kia EV6's sat nav – a car he bought for £52,000 18 months ago.

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He said: "It's a great set up here but my sat nav couldn't find it, only Google Maps, and we had to come off the motorway heading north to reach it."

The retired oil and gas industry exploration expert was travelling from his home with two companions to a treat weekend away in Manchester to see the Coronation Street tour.

He said: "It's a great idea to have a large electric vehicle charging station like this but for people like us it is a bit off the beaten track, and we had trouble finding it.

"This is what we need up and down motorways across the country and not hidden away in one spot. We need more of these on main routes."

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The EV super hub is serviced by routes from the M1, M6 and M42 – where ongoing roadworks have been causing havoc – and A45 which will eventually become the new HS2 rail station.

The charging zone offers power to charge 200 vehicles at a time – 180 of these on a two-hour re-boot and 20 on a super fast charge.

The expansive futuristic-looking site is situated at the NEC's East car park but there is a lack of signage.

An impressive new Starbucks coffee shop welcomes not only motorists charging up but anyone wanting a sit-in or drive-through drink and eat.

Barista Andrew Morrison, speaking to The Sun Online during a lunch break, said: "This hub is a positive change for the country, and is a step in the right direction for the future of green energy.

"To have it at a place like the NEC makes sense. If they can't do it and make a success of t, who can? They would be stupid not to try.

"It is still a business and they have to make money."

Andrew, 29, a non driver himself, said: "They have been trialling it to see how it goes. It was only opened a few weeks ago and it was a very, very slow start but now more and more people are driving through, and we are having 100 cars a day here.

"People come and charge their cars and typically come in for a coffee and a bite to eat.

"The EV charging, the cafe and drive through all go hand and hand. I love working here and on a break and can come and sit outside and get away from the hustle and bustle."

A businessman from Cardiff, who was enjoying some refreshments while his car was on charge, said: "This is a fantastic venture. It is phenomenal."

The wholesale electronics expert told how he had travelled from Wales the previous night, checking into a hotel, for a business trip flight the next day from Birmingham.

He explained: "Before the flight I had time to charge up my car, which will retain it, for my return trip home in a few days."

When Mr Hunt opened the charging facility, he described it as "groundbreaking" saying the investment marked "a significant step in our roll-out of electric charging infrastructure across the country."

He added: "This is the biggest private investment in electric charging in the UK and is a huge vote of confidence in Britain's role as a leader in green industries."

After his visit he tweeted: "I opened one of Europe's largest EV charging sites at the NEC – key infrastructure we need as we transition to an electric future."

Andrew Cole, a director at the NEC Group, said the conference centre's campus, which has seven million visitors a year, could now charge about 1,000 electric cars in every 12-hour day.

The "Gigahub" was developed between the NEC, independent charging infrastructure company EV Network and BP Pulse, which operates the site.

Akira Kirton, the vice-president of BP Pulse UK – owned by oil giant BP – said the company would invest up to £1bn to accelerate the development of the UK's EV infrastructure by delivering "the right charging speeds, in the right locations".

He vowed: "We plan to roll out hundreds of hubs this decade in places EV drivers needs them – urban areas, on trunk roads and motorways and at destinations such as restaurants, retail parks and hotels."

Reza Shaybani, co-founder and chief executive of EV Network, warned that the UK's existing grid infrastructure was "a key bottleneck in developing future robust infrastructure for fast charging".

He added: "This is why sites like the NEC are all about the grid connection and their vicinity to electrical infrastructure."

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It comes after PM Rishi Sunak announced that he is set to delay a 2030 ban on petrol and diesel car sales by five years – marking a massive victory for The Sun's Give Us A Brake campaign.

He promised a "better, more proportionate way" of reaching Net Zero that did not punish hard-pressed families.

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