BP's new fast charging station for electric vehicles opened at Christmas after a 10-month transformation.
The new station on the Great West Road's westbound lanes near Oil Mill Lane, W6, has ditched petrol pumps in favour of rapid-charger points for electric vehicles.
There are 10 high-power charging bays, one extra-wide for wheelchair use, each capable of giving an EV a 100-mile top-up in a quarter of an hour, as well as screen cleaning and air pumps. There is also a car mat cleaner; feed the mats in, and they emerge pristine.
A Marks & Spencer mini supermarket and takeaway café will open in the next fortnight, with room for eight cars.
"We're getting ready for an electrified future, and are giving the site a new sleek, modern look for drivers and shoppers," said a BP spokesman.
Dense network in H&F
Petrol pumps remain at the London-bound BP service station opposite the all-electric site, and at the BP service station a mile up the road at the Talgarth Road flyover, which also has 10 new fast-charge electric points.
The opening of the all-electric station follows Hammersmith & Fulham Council's commitment to EV charging, with 2,800 individual sockets providing the densest network of any UK borough, with no one more than 400m from a charge point.
H&F unveiled its first all-electric charge hub in Fulham Road, when a former Shell petrol station was converted to deliver nine ultra-rapid 175KW charge points. You can find the nearest charging point to you at PlugShare or via Zap-Map.
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," he said.
