RAW Charging has announced a new sponsorship deal with Oxford City FC that will see it build an electric vehicle (EV) Charge Yard outside the club’s stadium.
It will be the company’s largest charging hub to date, with 16 charging bays and a mix of DC and AC chargers. Initially this will be made up of eight DC chargers, offering 150kW and 300kW, and two AC chargers, the company said.
The Charge Yard, which will be situated off the A40 on land owned by the football club, will provide a new charging facility for football fans, taxi drivers, passers-by, local businesses and anyone who is in the area, and is also located near John Radcliffe Hospital.
For two seasons, the stadium will be renamed the “RAW Charging Stadium”, and the EV charging company will also sponsor Oxford City FC’s kit for the 2022/23 season.
“We’re excited to be working with Oxford City Football Club to launch a new Charge Yard and to sponsor them as a team,” said Bruce Galliford, CEO of RAW Charging.
“RAW’s roots are in Oxford, although we now operate across Europe, so it is great to work and support the local team, Oxford City Council and the wider community. This is the second Charge Yard we have launched, with many more to come and we look forward to providing affordable and reliable EV charging to the people of Oxford.”
Oxford FC is one of a number of football clubs around Britain that have been adopting green technologies, with Arsenal becoming the first to use its onsite battery for wholesale trading, Manchester City deploying battery storage and Newcastle United adopted a combined heat and power system.
Numerous stadiums have looked to solar installations too, with Tottenham Hotspur installing rooftop solar and battery storage, and Bristol City signing a power purchase agreement for solar energy.
Other energy companies have also looked to sponsor football clubs, possibly most famously Ecotricity, which has sponsored sustainable football club Forest Green Rovers since 2010.
“We are committed to making the club sustainable and providing the community with first class infrastructure and facilities and this partnership helps deliver that,” said Justin Merritt, Oxford City director of football.
“We are proud to have partnered with the UK’s leading EV charge point company that is at the forefront of carbon-free innovation in the sustainability industry. The vision RAW Charging has to implement sustainable infrastructure across Oxford is exciting and we are proud to be the home of its first EV charging hub in the city.”
The sponsorship deal comes during a busy time for RAW Charging, with the company signing a new partnership with installation software company Jumptech on Monday 1 August.
In July, it raised £250 million from private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners in its latest fundraising round, and has also expanded its leadership team as it eyes rapid growth with a target of 10,000 chargepoint installations in next three years.
