Arnold Clark to open national EV charging network

Arnold Clark is set to create the UK’s first business-based national electric vehicle (EV) charging network with a £23 million investment to install rapid chargers across its 80 dealerships.

The UK’s second largest retail group says the network will be open to fleet and business customers, as well as private car owners, with pre-booking via its own Arnold Clark app.

In an exclusive interview with Fleet News sister website AM, Arnold Clark chief executive Eddie Hawthorne revealed that the first delivery of 150kW rapid charge points is due to arrive in the UK shortly. The full order of around 560 will see each dealership install four-to-eight charge points.

Access to the network will be 24/7, where possible, with charge point sessions booked via the Arnold Clark app and out-of-hours site access granted via an ANPR-activated barrier system.

“The current problem for people considering making the switch isn’t range anxiety but charging anxiety,” said Hawthorne.

“If you have a charger at home or at work that is fine but if you are going any distance then there is the constant worry about whether the charge point will be working, if there will be a lengthy queue and how much it will charge.

“Our USP will be that you will have the security of a booked slot at a well-lit facility where there will be a security presence and help on hand, should you require, it during daytime hours.”

While initially prioritising customers of Arnold Clark, a spokesman did not rule out extending access to any business user in due course.

“We are currently committed to providing a comprehensive charging facility for our customers,” he said. “We will be reviewing the strategy for our charge network frequently and will amend our intended end users as we deem appropriate.”

The Arnold Clark Charge network will extend from Inverness to Southampton, but Hawthorne conceded that a charging tariff had yet to be settled upon.

“We want to undercut the rate offered by charging providers already in the market,” he said.

“I look at some providers who charge a £2 connection fee, then 70p/kWh and £40 if you overstay your welcome. I’m not into that. We want to do things differently.”

Arnold Clark has completed the acquisition of East Kilbride-based start-up charge point installation provider Bumblebee for an initial investment of £2.5m and Hawthorne is keen to accelerate the growth of the business to the point where it has nationwide coverage and the scale to install 600 charge points a month.

Central to the Bumblebee offering is a BeeCharged app, which can facilitate the installation of community-shared EV charge points in flats and housing developments.