IN Brief:
- The installation at Bartrums’ Eye depot includes a 400kW Rolec UltraCharge 400 unit.
- The project was supported by the UK Government’s Depot Charging Scheme.
- Bartrums expects to operate three electric tractor units by summer 2026.
Voltempo has delivered a high-power depot charging installation for Bartrums Haulage at its site in Eye, Suffolk, enabling the operator to expand its electric heavy goods vehicle fleet.
The installation includes a 400kW Rolec UltraCharge 400 unit with dual CCS2 connectors, charge monitoring, and two dedicated HGV charging bays. The project was supported by the UK Government’s Depot Charging Scheme and has been installed next to a high-capacity substation added during a 2022 site development, reducing cabling requirements and overall installation cost.
Bartrums operates about 200 vehicles across the UK, ranging from 3.5-tonne vehicles to 44-tonne articulated trucks. Its operations cover pallet network distribution, general haulage, and bulk transport. The company already runs a Volvo FH Electric on bulk tipping work, which has been charged off-site at a customer location.
The new depot charging installation will support additional electric trucks entering the fleet, including two Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 tractor units. By summer 2026, Bartrums expects to have three electric tractor units operating on dedicated customer-specific routes and carrying customer liveries.
Voltempo led the project from initial design and planning through to installation and grid connection, acting as a single point of contact and supporting the funding application process. The project covers site design, charger selection, civils, grid connection, funding, commissioning, and ongoing operational requirements.
High-power HGV charging requires more than charger procurement. Site capacity, connection availability, cable routes, protection equipment, metering, vehicle dwell times, route planning, and future fleet growth all have to be considered before installation. A 400kW charger can support early electric truck deployment, but further electrification will require careful planning around available capacity and charging schedules.
The location of the charger beside a high-capacity substation reduces one of the main barriers to depot electrification. Grid connection cost and timing remain difficult for many fleet operators, particularly at depots built before transport electrification became a design consideration. Sites with available electrical capacity, space for charging bays, and predictable vehicle movements are better placed to move from small-scale deployment to fleet integration.
Depot charging is likely to form the foundation of electric HGV operation for operators with repeat routes and return-to-base activity. Charging can be matched to shift patterns, maintenance windows, and customer schedules, while energy use can be monitored against vehicle duty cycles. Public and shared high-power charging corridors will still be needed for longer-distance operations, but depot infrastructure allows fleets to electrify routes where charging demand is predictable.
The installation also connects with wider work on heavy vehicle charging networks. Voltempo is leading the eFREIGHT 2030 initiative, which is intended to roll out a national HGV-only charging network using 1MW-plus charging hubs. The company’s HyperCharger system is designed to dynamically distribute more than 1MW across multiple vehicles, allowing several vehicles to charge simultaneously at optimised speeds.
Electric HGV deployment is moving from vehicle trials to infrastructure-led planning. Operators need trucks, but they also need grid capacity, installation partners, charging control, depot layouts, and commercial routes that support battery-electric operation. The Bartrums project shows how early fleet electrification is being built around dedicated routes, customer contracts, depot engineering, and staged infrastructure growth.
