Fleete has opened what it describes as the United Kingdom’s largest dedicated electric charging hub for commercial vehicles at the Port of Tilbury.
The site has a total capacity of 5 MW and includes 16 ultra-rapid charging points, allowing up to 16 electric heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to charge simultaneously. The facility operates under a shared-user model intended for logistics operators using the port.
Fleete said the Tilbury location is the first in a planned nationwide network of commercial vehicle charging hubs positioned at key logistics sites. A second facility is already under development at Hams Hall Distribution Park near Birmingham and is expected to feature 26 charging bays.
Charging infrastructure at the Tilbury hub includes six 540 kW Flex chargers and twelve Flex 500A charging stations supplied by Siemens. An additional four charging units were delivered by Power Electronics, each capable of delivering up to 270 kW with the potential to upgrade to 360 kW.
The project received £1 million in support from the UK government’s Thames Freeport Seed Capital Programme. Additional funding was provided through the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) Programme, funded by the Department for Transport in partnership with Innovate UK.
Sue Shinnick, Mayor of Thurrock, said the facility reflects collaboration between industry and public authorities. “Today is an important moment for Thurrock and for the wider move towards cleaner freight. The opening of Fleete’s electric HGV charging hub here at the Port of Tilbury, the largest dedicated hub of its kind in the UK, highlights what can be achieved through strong partnership between industry, government and Thames Freeport,” she said.
David Webster, Regional Director at the Port of Tilbury and a Thames Freeport board member, said the facility will support freight decarbonisation at the port. “With thousands of HGV movements through the port every day, access to high-capacity, reliable charging infrastructure is critical,” he said.
Fleete was founded in 2022 by the Green Investments team at Macquarie Asset Management and focuses on providing charging solutions for commercial fleets transitioning to electric transport.