Mel Stride, the central Devon MP and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions today visited Osprey Charging’s public EV charging hub at Salmon’s Leap in Buckfastleigh, praising it for improving local air quality, reducing noise pollution, and supporting Devon’s decarbonisation efforts, whilst also bolstering the UK’s national charging infrastructure.

Osprey Charging, one of the UK’s leading electric vehicle (EV) charging networks, recently opened its Salmon’s Leap hub in Buckfastleigh just off the A38 Devon Expressway. It is the largest ultra-rapid EV charging site in the south-west and has 16 chargers that are all compatible with every EV on the market and can add 100 miles of range in less than 20 minutes’ charge time.

Mel Stride is known for his work on climate change and helping steer legislation through parliament on emissions targets as well as working with counterparts in other countries at COP26 and more recently the G7 in Japan.

Mel Stride, Central Devon MP and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said: “I am delighted that we now have the South West’s biggest EV charge point hub here in Central Devon, with the capability of adding 100 miles of range in less than 20 minutes. It is a great location and I look forward to coming back again when the Strawberry Fields farm shop opens.”

Ian Johnston, CEO of Osprey Charging, said: “Mel has a long-standing commitment to tackling climate change and so we were delighted to show him around our new site. Salmon’s Leap is our largest hub yet and another milestone achieved for the Osprey team as we work tirelessly to build nationwide EV infrastructure to support the UK’s transition to zero-emission transport. The deployment of our rapid EV charging stations continues this year at an unprecedented pace.”

Osprey installed as many chargers in the first quarter of this year as it did during the whole of 2022. From January to March this year, 142 new rapid Osprey EV charging stations went live in 10 weeks, equalling the number of charge points installed throughout 2022.

Osprey remains committed to providing safe, reliable and accessible EV charging for all. The network is consistently ranked in the top 3 UK rapid networks for customer satisfaction by Zap-Map and its hubs are consistently scored highly for safety and accessibility by independent inspection body ChargeSafe.