Posted on July 16, 2025
Stakeholders and industry leaders, including the Mayor of Thurrock, Councillor Sue Shinnick, gathered onsite to witness the ceremonial first dig and plaque unveiling of what’s believed to be the UK’s largest dedicated charging facility for electric HGVs and commercial fleets.
Scheduled to go live in December 2025, the new 5MW shared-user hub will offer 16 rapid chargers for simultaneous use with the capacity to support large fleet operations 24/7, marking a major step forward in the drive to decarbonise the UK’s logistics and freight sector at scale.
It will primarily focus on eHGVs but will also accept vans – all customers need to sign up at fleete.com before using the site.
Located within one of the UK’s busiest multimodal ports, the Port of Tilbury site is ideally positioned to support low-carbon freight corridors across the Thames estuary and beyond.
The shared user charging hub, funded in part with £1m from the UK government under the Thames Freeport seed capital programme, is the first in Fleete’s growing network of commercial charging sites strategically placed along high-demand freight and logistics routes.
Chris Morrison, chief executive officer at Fleete, said: “Breaking ground at Port of Tilbury is more than a construction milestone, it’s a clear demonstration of how government seed funding capital can crowd-in multiples more funds from private capital to build the sustainable infrastructure the UK needs.
“Working together with the Port of Tilbury and Thames Freeport, this high-capacity shared user hub directly tackles some of the key barriers to fleet electrification, and we are delighted to see it coming to life.”
Alex Norris, Minister for Local Growth and Building Safety, said: “I am excited to hear that spades are getting in the ground at Port Tilbury with the help of funding from the Freeports programme.
“This pioneering EV hub will be a vital asset to Thames Freeport that is becoming one of the UK’s leaders in green transport innovation, a wonderful example of boosting local growth and job opportunities across the nation as promised in our Plan for Change.”
The Port of Tilbury hub is the first of Fleete’s expanding network of commercial EV charging sites, designed to support large-scale EV adoption for fleets and set a new standard in commercial charging built for scale, speed and reliability.
