Huge new electric taxi charging hub in London REVIVES industry options and promises more to come
HP Taxi, in partnership with new infrastructure company ZEVHub, have launched an exciting new taxi charging hub located centrally just off the Old Kent Road on Mandela Way.
Historically the London taxi industry had dedicated cafes, services and meeting points dotted around the capital. However, due to a number of reasons these have all disappeared in recent times. The Royal Oak based in Paddington was popular and could hold a large number of drivers looking to rest up and eat. That site was sold to developers and is now home to apartments and hotels.
After that the greasy spoon cafe on Camley Street was handed its marching orders leaving just Great Suffolk Street (GSS) remaining. Just recently the cafe located at GSS closed its doors to customers for a time period, but still does offer up a parking spot and a vehicle spares shop.
Just when cabbies thought these traditional places were all but gone, in comes rental fleet firm HP Taxi to offer not only hope, but potentially a new improved way of working for years to come.
A huge site in South London has sprung up offering a charging hub of ten 30kWh charge points to cabbies. These unique charge points, originating from new Spanish technology, allow cabbies to quickly charge their LEVC TX’s from empty to over 80% charge in just half an hour at a cost of 60p per kWh.
The charge points include both CSS and CHAdeMO sockets. Drivers wanting to use the facilities simply need to log their arrival and departure and pay via staff members on site. There are also clean toilet facilities available and a chance to grab a coffee whilst waiting.
This arrival is exciting enough in its own right as taxi drivers look for more dedicated taxi charge points in central areas, but the real excitement can be found when hearing about the potential of the site and the future plans.
Speaking to HP’s Paul Byron, there are ambitious plans in store for the huge site which aims to offer more specialised coffee shops, healthy eateries, car wash, rest areas, more charge points, Knowledge of London school and any other service a cabbie might find useful.
If drivers can get behind the new charging hub now and help HP Taxi invest in the potential of the site, it’s definitely a case of ‘watch this space’.
