London Gatwick is one of the busiest airports in Europe with over 30 million passengers visiting each year.
And that’s just part of the story, with thousands of staff – from pilots and cabin crew to logistics and security workers – commuting to the site each day.
Then you have to add in the countless other local businesses that operate because of the airport. That’s a lot of people coming to and from the site.
It also makes the fact London Gatwick Airport is committed to making 60% of all passenger and staff journeys net zero by 2030 all the more impressive.
The new London Gatwick Electric Forecourt® is a key piece of solving this puzzle, providing High Power net zero charging to visitors, staff and local residents just seconds from the South Terminal.
Bronwen Jones, Development Director at Gatwick Airport, said: “This Electric Forecourt® gives confidence to passengers and staff that they can rapidly charge at the airport. It makes going electric much more of a consideration. For staff and the local community, it’s a tipping point.”
To see just how big of an impact the London Gatwick Electric Forecourt® is already having, we caught up with some customers and local businesses…
Kevin O’Reilly is Managing Director at One Resourcing, a recruitment business that specialises in the aviation industry, finding talent for London Gatwick Airport as well as major airlines. Based in Crawley, a few miles down the road from the airport, it currently has several electric vehicles on the fleet and staff are regulars at the airport.
Kevin said: “The team can be here two or three times a day to meet clients or candidates, so this is a great facility for our business.
“I know we can come and charge while we meet customers for a coffee upstairs or conduct an interview in the meeting room. It’ll help us in a number of different ways as well as help us contribute to the airport’s wider targets.”
Nick Broom is CEO at PVL, a vehicle livery and branding specialist that supplies reflective signage to the UK emergency services. The company currently has no on-site charging capability at its office, so Nick sees the opening of the Electric Forecourt® as key to expanding his EV fleet (he currently has six electric vans and three electric cars).
“This facility will let the team come and charge in the morning and grab a coffee before they meet customers, as well as recharging before they come back to base,” he added. “We have hybrids and EVs on our fleet and this facility will help us make the switch to more EVs – and I think that’s the same for a number of local businesses in the area.”
Based in Burgess Hill, Nick’s staff are regulars at the airport to meet international clients. He said: “The charging is only one thing, the combination of that with meeting space will help us be more efficient.”
The new High Power chargers at London Gatwick Electric Forecourt® were officially powered up on December 22 and Sally Rochester was our very first customer.
Sally, along with son Max, who lives in Guernsey was returning her hired Polestar 2 to the rental company after a trip to see family in Norfolk to celebrate an early Christmas.
She said: “Before GRIDSERVE opened there was nowhere to charge our rental upon return, so we were very grateful otherwise we would have been stuck and had to return the car without charge.
“This Electric Forecourt® is a massive improvement to the EV infrastructure in the area and makes a huge difference to our willingness to rent an EV. We will now rent EVs all the time at London Gatwick.”
