Bidfood unveils overhead electric charging facility

The latest fleets to benefit from the government’s Depot Charging Scheme, which covers part of the cost of infrastructure installation for operators transitioning to electric vehicles, include wholesaler Bidfood. Last month the company opened a four-bay overhead charging gantry at its Slough depot, thought to be the first of its kind in the UK at a commercial depot.

Following the funding support, Bidfood enlisted infrastructure partner Erinion, a subsidiary of truck manufacturer Scania, to manage the project. It included the design and delivery of a cantilevered overhead gantry, which allowed the infrastructure to be installed without disruption or loss of parking spaces.

The system features a 600kW Kempower charger, which powers four charging points at existing parking bays. The gantry and four-charging-bay setup has been designed with future expansion in mind as the fleet develops, says Bidfood.

Faye Reeve, head of non-inventory procurement at Bidfood parent group Bidcorp UK, said: “This is such an exciting move for us at Bidfood! This new overhead gantry at Slough has laid the foundations to support our longer-term transition to alternative fuels.

“We wanted a solution that works around the realities of a busy depot, without taking away valuable parking space or changing the ways our teams operate. It was extremely important for us to allow flexibility to expand the infrastructure as our needs develop.

“We also want the charging bays to have a wider benefit in the longer term, which is why we’ll be exploring the opportunities that there may be in the future for inbound suppliers to utilise the facilities.”

Jack Smith, country manager UK at Erinion, added: “What makes Slough interesting is the next step.

“Opening the bays to inbound suppliers would turn a depot charger into shared infrastructure for the supply chain, and that improves the economics of the whole site. We designed the gantry and power set-up with that growth in mind.”