IN Brief:
- Fastned and Places for London have opened a 12-bay ultra-rapid EV charging hub at Hatton Cross.
- The site includes 400kW chargers, 24/7 operation, renewable electricity, extra-wide bays, and accessible charging spaces.
- The hub is the first of 25 planned locations under the partnership.
Fastned and Places for London have opened their first ultra-rapid electric vehicle charging hub under a partnership that plans to deliver 25 charging hubs across the capital.
The new site is located at Hatton Cross Underground station, close to Heathrow Airport and with access to the M25, M4, and A30. It includes 12 ultra-rapid charging bays rated at 400kW, is open 24/7, and is powered entirely by renewable electricity.
Designed for cars, taxis, vans, smaller commercial vehicles, and high-utilisation users, the hub includes extra-wide bays, two fully accessible charging spaces, CCTV coverage, weather protection from Fastned’s solar canopies, and multilingual customer support.
Fastned and Places for London opened the hub on 12 June 2026. The partnership has planning in place for a 36-bay site at Hanger Lane and an eight-bay hub at East Finchley Underground station car park, with three additional sites in planning across Newham, Haringey, and Barking and Dagenham.
High-power public charging carries different electrical requirements from slower destination charging. A 12-bay hub with 400kW chargers needs grid capacity, load management, protection, transformer sizing, cable routes, civil layout, customer safety systems, payment infrastructure, data connectivity, and maintenance access.
The location gives the site a mix of strategic and local demand. Heathrow, the M25, the M4, and the A30 create a concentration of commercial, airport, taxi, private hire, commuter, and fleet traffic. Many of those users need high availability and rapid turnaround rather than occasional low-power charging.
London’s EV infrastructure challenge is increasingly about power delivery as well as charger numbers. The capital has a large public charging base, but high-powered sites are needed for vans, taxis, private hire vehicles, and commercial operations that cannot rely on overnight residential charging.
Many households and businesses in London lack off-street parking, which places more pressure on public infrastructure than in areas where home or depot charging is easier. High-powered hubs can support rapid top-ups, although they also concentrate electrical demand in urban locations where grid capacity can be constrained.
Charging power is becoming a competitive factor across vehicles and infrastructure. High-power charging technology is already being pushed into the European market, but fast charging only delivers value when local grid capacity, charger availability, and site design can support it consistently.
The project also demonstrates a property-led infrastructure model. Places for London, Transport for London’s property company, is using land holdings to support EV charging while generating revenue for reinvestment into the transport network. Similar models are likely to become more common where public bodies control strategically located sites but need private operators to finance, build, and operate infrastructure.
Accessibility is moving further into charging procurement and site design. Extra-wide bays and accessible charging spaces affect whether infrastructure can be used by disabled drivers, taxi operators, van users, and mixed vehicle types. As charging hubs become larger and busier, layout quality will influence both utilisation and public acceptance.
The stronger test for the partnership will be replication across the planned network. Each site will have different grid constraints, land conditions, planning requirements, civil works, access issues, and local traffic patterns. Hatton Cross gives the rollout an operational starting point near one of the UK’s busiest transport zones, while the wider programme will determine how far high-power charging can be scaled across London’s constrained urban network.
