Electric vehicle (EV) drivers across the country are being invited to join Gridserve in celebrating the one-year anniversary of its Electric Highway with the chance to win free electricity.

Through the competition, five drivers will win 1,000 miles of free charge across the entire network, including at its Electric Forecourts. 

To enter, drivers must find the Gridserve birthday wrapped chargers hidden across the network and submit an image on Twitter or Instagram tagging Gridserve and using the hashtag #GSElectricHighwayBday, to enter the draw.

The competition will close at 11:59pm on Sunday, July 31, and winners will be announced on Twitter and Instagram by 11am on Friday, August 12.

The competition comes as Gridserve reveals that the number of charging sessions on its EV charging network has tripled since June 2021, with a quadrupling of energy supplied.

It is one year since it acquired the network from Ecotricity and began its sweeping reforms to improve standards.

It embarked on a multimillion-pound programme to materially improve dependability, ease of use, and availability of chargers. That has included upgrading more than 160 charging locations with new chargers, delivering an additional seven High Power Electric Super Hubs across the motorway network, each featuring a bank of 6 to 12 x 350kW-capable chargers, and opening a new flagship Norwich Electric Forecourt.

Dozens of additional sites are also already under development and in construction.

Reliability, consistently reported as a number one priority for EV drivers, has also improved, now standing at up to 99% uptime.

Furthermore, accessibility has been improved, with contactless payment – previously unavailable at all legacy chargers – now ubiquitous across the network.

Toddington Harper, founder and CEO of Gridserve, said: “Only one year ago, we acquired the Gridserve Electric Highway with the aim of making EV driving an enjoyable, ultra-convenient and stress-free experience throughout the UK.

“From day one, we have been focussed on delivering the best possible charging experience for drivers, and the response has been staggering with more people than ever charging at motorway service stations.”

He continued: “Whilst we have materially improved EV charging across the UK, we have only touched the surface in terms of delivering the full extent of our plans.

"It remains our mission to continually improve our network to provide increasingly large numbers of EV drivers with the confidence that they can set off on any length of journey, to anywhere in the country, driving any type of EV, and have a better experience than making the same trip in a petrol or diesel vehicle.”

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