Chargepoint operator (CPO) Fastned has announced that it has opened a new EV charging hub near Newcastle.

The hub, located in Houghton-le-Spring, features eight 300kW combined charging system (CCS) high-speed charging bays which can provide an EV with up to 300 miles of charge in as little as twenty minutes.

The site, which is powered enetirely by renewable energy, is the ninth EV charging hub that the network has opened in the north-east of England, and the thirty-fifth Fastned charging hub across the UK. The company opened its first north-east based site in Sunderland city centre; the firm claims this was the UK’s first ultra-rapid charging site.

Tom Hurst, UK country director for Fastned, stated that the firm was “delighted” to be strengthening its EV charging reach in the north east of England, which he called “the birthplace of Fastned in the UK”. He added: “EV drivers will now have better access to ultra-rapid charging in Houghton le Spring, making their long and short journeys that bit easier.”

Fastned continues to expand

At the beginning of last month, Fastned opened another new EV charging hub, this time in Scotland. The hub, which is located in Greenock, west of Glasgow, is also powered by 100% renewable energy, some of which comes from the large solar canopy located over the EV chargers on site.

This new rapid EV charging hub features four ultra-rapid charging bays capable of providing drivers with as much as 100 miles of range in just five minutes. Fastned has also noted that it has sufficient capacity to add an additional four ultra-rapid charging bays on this site in the future, although it has not stated if or when it plans to add these additional bays.

Earlier this year, Fastned made its first moves into the Northern Irish market, with the opening of a new hub in late February 2025.

The 400kW hub in Banbridge features 12 charging bays and is the fastest publicly available EV charging hub in Northern Ireland at present; the following month, the company opened a second Northern Irish facility in Antrim, which features three 400kW ultra-rapid chargers able to charge six vehicles simultaneously. This site also has the possibility for future expansion, with Fastned noting that the site could expand to 12 chargers in the future. Both of these sites were funded by an investment of over £3 million by the company.