Fleete has inaugurated a dedicated electric charging facility for commercial vehicles at the Port of Tilbury, marking the largest installation of its kind in the United Kingdom.
The 5MW hub features 16 ultra-rapid chargers capable of serving up to 16 heavy goods vehicles simultaneously, and represents the first site in a planned national network of shared commercial vehicle charging locations.
The facility was developed in partnership with the Port of Tilbury and Thames Freeport, with financial backing from the UK government’s Thames Freeport Seed Capital Programme, which contributed £1 million, alongside additional funding from the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator Programme, administered by the Department for Transport in collaboration with Innovate UK.
Positioned at one of the country’s busiest multimodal freight hubs, the hub is designed to serve zero-emission HGVs operating within and through the port as well as along the A13 corridor into London.
It also supports the Lower Thames Crossing project, where major contractors are transitioning to electric vehicles to reduce construction-related emissions.
Fleete’s shared-user model is central to the facility’s commercial proposition.
By offering high-powered charging infrastructure on a shared-access basis, the hub removes the need for individual fleet operators to undertake costly depot upgrades or navigate grid capacity and land constraints independently, addressing some of the most persistent structural barriers to fleet electrification.
The opening forms part of the Port of Tilbury’s broader green energy transition, with anticipated benefits extending to local air quality, sustainable transport development and regional economic activity.
