UK: MFG to invest £400M to electrify its forecourt network
Leading independent forecourt operator MFG with over 900 sites across Great Britain will plug £400 million into electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The UK’s Motor Fuel Group has announced plans to install 2,800 Ultra-Rapid 150kW EV Chargers across 500 sites in the UK over the next 10 years.
With this £400 million, MFG wants to provide a significant boost to the Government’s decarbonisation and sustainability agenda and emissions target of being net zero by 2050.
“Our planned £400 million investment in this vital infrastructure will help keep UK motorists on the move, and our essential retail will support local communities and the economy. I am looking forward to engaging with Government to ensure this investment best meets the national EV infrastructure requirement to help us all make a contribution to ensuring Britain meets its net zero target by 2050,” said William Bannister, CEO at MFG.
Battery electric vehicles accounted for 6.6% of all new car registrations in the UK in 2020, up from 1.6% in 2019. To meet Government targets, 100% of new registrations must be battery electric by 2035.
On route charging will be particularly important infrastructure for those drivers who do not have access to ‘at home’ charging. In England, over 60% of dwellings in cities and urban areas do not have garages or other off-road parking provisions, and so must rely on electricity from publicly accessible networks, according to MFG.
MFG hubs will consist of between four and eight Ultra-Rapid 150kW EV Chargers per site. 150kW chargers can add 100 miles range in approximately 10 minutes, subject to the charging capability of individual car batteries. These will be augmented with 350 kW chargers as vehicle battery technology improves to maintain the fastest charging times across the MFG network.
In 2021, MFG will build EV charging hubs at an additional 40 sites, offering over 200 Ultra-Rapid 150kW EV Chargers. From 2022 onwards, MFG plans to build at least 50 additional EV charging hubs per year.
Over the coming decades, MFG will operate a dual fuel strategy. It will continue to provide existing fossil fuel infrastructure whilst rolling out EV charging hubs while continuously upgrading its nationwide network of industry-leading travel retail destinations.
Given the slow churn of the car parc – on average, cars are 14 years old at point of scrappage – millions of motorists will require fossil fuels long after the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol or diesel cars.
Building on this footprint, and alongside its ambitious EV roll out, MFG also plans to invest over £50m in 2021 to improve its retail, food to go, and valeting offer to the consumer.
Led by an entrepreneurial management team, MFG has grown rapidly over the last decade from under 50 forecourts to 918 today.
