A filling station in Hammersmith has uprooted its petrol pumps and is reopening as a rapid-charge centre – exclusively for electric vehicles.
The BP Cromwell westbound garage near Oil Mill Lane, W6, has been closed since early March while engineering specialist NG Bailey removes pumps and replaces them with high-power chargers able to give cars a 100-mile top-up in 15 minutes.
It's set to become one of the company's first pioneering electric-only fuel locations in the capital – part of an overall £1billion investment in new EV charging hubs.
It will be fully open in January.
The new-look service station will also incorporate a Marks & Spencer shop so you can stock up on sandwiches while your vehicle is being charged.
Other side of the road
However, the London-bound BP service station across the road near the junction with Beavor Lane, with its Londis store and 24-hour off licence, will retain petrol and diesel pumps.
As does the BP service station a mile up the road at the Talgarth Road flyover, which has been revamped with 10 new fast-charge points, while keeping traditional pumps.
The firm has a target of rolling out 100,000 electric vehicle charging points globally by 2030, dovetailing with Hammersmith & Fulham Council's own green commitments.
H&F is the borough with the densest network of car-charging points in the UK. The number of electric or hybrid cars in H&F has soared from under 350 in 2017 to 6,500 last year, with the electric charge points rising from 113 to 2,800 in the same time.
Residents with fully electric vehicles qualify for free parking permits as an incentive to switch away from petrol and diesel. Drivers with low-emission vehicles qualify for discounts.
H&F is home to more than 2,300 lamppost column charging points, with more being added all the time. They are operated by SureCharge and Ubitricity, ensuring that nobody is more than 400m from a charge point.
Fulham first
H&F unveiled its first all-electric charge hub in Fulham Road in 2022, when a former Shell petrol station was converted to deliver nine ultra-rapid 175KW charge points – a world first. You can find the nearest charging point to you at PlugShare or via Zap-Map.
BP is making 90 per cent of its new charging points either rapid or ultra-fast, so cars can get a 100-mile recharge in as little as 15 minutes. "It's what our customers want, which is why we're providing convenient amenities at charging locations," said a spokesman.
The Great West Road garage conversion, with high-power grid connection, follows the opening of BP's largest public EV charging 'gigahub' at Birmingham's NEC a year ago, allowing 180 vehicles to charge simultaneously.
Richard Bartlett, head of BP Pulse, said the company focus was on fast charging, to address the fact that around a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions come from the transport sector.
"It's the difference between adding hundreds of miles of range in minutes, and having to leave your car overnight on a slow charger. EV is ultimately a scale game, rolling out high-power charging sites with dozens of chargers per site."
The new-look Great West Road station includes 300KW DC chargers and 7KW chargers, covering the requirements of different cars. As a corporation, BP has pledged to move away from oil to focus on cleaner energy.
