Ionity – a joint venture between Daimler, Ford, BMW and the Volkswagen Group with Audi and Porsche – has formed a partnership deal with Extra MSA Group that will see the mass rollout of its chargers at motorway services.

The first of the new Ionity/Extra charging stations will be located at Extra’s new M1 J45 Leeds Skelton Lake MSA later this year

Initially, Ionity will install eight High Power Charging (HPC) stations, with each equipped with six 350kW chargers.

This agreement represents another step in Ionity’s pan-European expansion, which will see up to 2400 chargers (at 400 sites) installed by end of 2020, including a targeted 40 HPC stations in the UK.

The first of the new Ionity/Extra charging stations will be located at Extra’s new M1 J45 Leeds Skelton Lake MSA later this year.

The other Extra ‘umbrella branded’ MSAs are at M25 Cobham, A14(M11) J28 Cambridge, M40 J2 Beaconsfield, M5 J28 Cullompton, M65 J4 Blackburn with Darwen, A1M J10 Baldock and A1M J17 Peterborough.

Michael Ellis, roads minister, said “We are working to ensure high quality charging infrastructure is in place to support the clean, green vehicles travelling across the country.”

“Our Road to Zero strategy outlined plans to support the delivery of an electric vehicle infrastructure network that is accessible, reliable, affordable and secure and so we welcome Ionity’s plans to install High Power Charging networks across UK motorways.”

The Extra MSA locations complement the existing Ionity network in the UK and bring Ionity closer to delivering its target of 40 HPC Stations. Other partners in the UK IONITY network include Shell and Motor Fuels Group.