An electric vehicle charging hub developer has announced plans to install thousands of rapid charging points in the North East to keep up with rising ownership of EVs.

Osprey is actively searching for sites across the region amid plans to create the charging points close to major motorway and A-roads in urban and edge-of-town locations, following a rise in EV ownership in the North East.

Knight Frank in Newcastle has been appointed to source locations, after the recent research by the firm showed the North East saw a 1,049% increase in EV registrations over the past nine years - with 5,555 electric vehicles registered in 2020 – up from just 349 in 2011.

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The property consultancy has so far found three North East sites which now have Osprey charge hubs, at Tyneview Retail Park in Prudhoe, Willowburn Retail Park in Alnwick and Northumberland Retail Park in North Tyneside – all of which are owned by Northumberland Estates.

The move comes after warnings in a that plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 are under threat because of a failure to provide charging points for electric vehicles.

The cross-party committee’s report found that drivers won’t buy the new vehicles unless they are able to charge them - and there is currently a “postcode lottery” which means some areas have far fewer charging points than others.

In a survey accompanying the report 69% cited a lack of public charge points as a reason not to purchase an electric vehicle.

Osprey is backed by investment from Cube Infrastructure and Investec to support its plans to install fully funded and managed charging stations supplied with 100% renewable energy.

Peter Bowden, head of the Newcastle office at Knight Frank, said: “We are excited to be working with Osprey to source and acquire rapid EV charging sites.

“We need to do all we can to improve the infrastructure for electric vehicles for environmental reasons and because people want the assurance that they can easily charge their vehicle at work or at the shops, as well as at home.

“This opportunity allows landlords and developers to advance their own Net Zero aspirations at no cost, with Osprey developing and managing the charging points, typically on a 20+year lease. The Osprey solution is market-leading and we look forward to supporting them in the expansion of their charging network.”

Anthony Cape, asset manager at Northumberland Estates said: “Alongside other measures such as renewable energy opportunities and large scale tree planting, our company looks at opportunities to include EV charging points at our developments, beyond the minimum planning requirements.”

According to Knight Frank research into the rising demand for electric vehicles, the number of ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) registered across the Ƶ, the vast majority of which are electric vehicles (EVs), rose by 52% during 2020, up from 245,000 in the third quarter of 2019 to 373,000 in the third quarter of 2020.