Be.EV Sheffield Charging Hub Signals EV Manufacturing Growth

New nine-bay ultra-rapid electric vehicle Charging Hub has been installed by national charging network Be.EV in Sheffield. 

This speaks to the significant growth of EV manufacturing in the UK, increasing efforts to improve charging infrastructure. 

This site boasts powerful and fast kempower charges, which have the ability to charge up to 150KW and add up to 165 miles of range in as little as 20 minutes. 

With the infrastructure ready to accommodate 20 charging bays in total, this hub marks a critical moment for the growth of EVs in rural England.

Be.EV is celebrating the hub's launch by offering drives who use the app half-price charging all day on Thursday, 7 November.  

Tackling emissions through EV manufacturing

The location of the Charging Hub was chosen strategically to address Sheffield's ongoing problem with air pollution. 

According to Sheffield City Council, air pollution is responsible for 250 all the way to 500 deaths per year in Sheffield. 

The council also states that 1 in 20 deaths in Sheffield are connected to poor air quality.

To tackle this the hub been built on the busy Parkway Central Retail park, located on a key trunk-road between the M1 and Sheffield city centre.

This road sees an average of 66,000 vehicles pass each day, with their emissions helping to create the air pollution problem.

Progress has been made on the air pollution challenges of the area through Sheffield City Council's Clean Air Zone. 

However fully addressing the problem will require a shift in mobility, more specifically, the broader adoption of EV's. 

Something which the Charging Hub is also helping to further by strengthening charging infrastructure.

Strengthening infrastructure in rural England

When talking about building up EV charging infrastructure and the broader shift in mobility, it's critical to take into account regional differences.

In a trend observable across the UK, Europe, the US and beyond, EV's remain very much an urban phenomenon. 

Take Sheffield for example, known in the UK as the 'outdoor city'. One-third of the area is rural, full of villages, market towns and farming communities. 

In a 2022 study of regional EV adoption by Consumer Reports, EV Noire and Green Latinos, 96% of rural respondents had not driven an EV.

Only 16% knew a friend, relative or co-worker who owned an EV and 90% had never been a passenger in one.

In 2024 not much has changed, with charging infrastructure in rural UK being sparse at best.

Yorkshire and the Humber have some of the poorest EV charging provision in the country, with only three regions in the UK having fewer ultra-rapid chargers.

This naturally reduces incentives for people in the area to consider buying an EV vehicle. 

For Be.EV challenging this and enhancing EV accessibility was a major goal in building the hub.

Making EVs for everybody

Be.EV has prioritised accessibility at every step with the hub. 

It's location is the most obvious example, with the charge points ideally located for drivers.

There are no height restriction barriers on site to deter larger vehicles and a huge variety of choices for refreshments and food nearby while EV users wait for their vehicles to charge. 

The charge points have three labelled waiting bays nearby, providing space to wait in case the hub grows busy. 

Additionally the hub has two marked accessible bays, with one being fully PAS 1899 compliant, to enhance disabled accessibility.

This is all part of Be.EV's focus on connecting communities left behind by the EV charging roll-out and fighting against air pollution deaths.

A fact echoed by what Asif Ghafoor, CEO of Be.EV, has to say about the hub. 

"The air pollution deaths statistics in Sheffield are shocking and need to be drastically reduced," says Asif.

"The Clean Air Zone introduced last year is a great start, but encouraging people to switch to EVs by giving them access to convenient public charging is the key way to finish the job.

“Charging infrastructure will go a long way to driving this. We need to make it as easy as possible for drivers to make the shift to driving EVs and this ultra-rapid charging hub at Parkway is a step in the right direction. 

“Fleet drivers make up a significant part of the UK’s motoring community and they need convenient charging more than most. It’s a key priority of ours to make Be.EV synonymous with the fleet community.”

Make sure you check out the latest edition of Manufacturing Digital and also sign up to our global conference series - Manufacturing & Mobility LIVE

Manufacturing Digital is a BizClik brand