Recent announcements from supermarket giant Tesco and pub group Marston’s will see the installation of almost 3,000 new charging points across the country.
Tesco has teamed up with Volkswagen to roll out more than 2,400 EV charging bays at 600 Tesco stores within the next three years – set to become the largest retail EV charging network in the UK.
Customers using Tesco Extra and Superstore car parks will be able to charge their electric cars using a normal 7kW charger for free or a rapid 50kW charger for a small fee.
Jason Tarry, Tesco CEO UK & ROI said: “This is part of our wider commitment to addressing environmental challenges that matter most to our customers, colleagues and communities. We want to be the leading EV energy provider and to support our customers with more sustainable solutions.”
Commenting on the rollout, Jesse Norman, Minister for electric vehicles at the Department for Transport commented said that the Government was committed to making the UK the best place in the world to own an electric car. “The Government set out plans in its Road to Zero strategy to deliver a significant increase in this infrastructure and we welcome Tesco’s pledge to roll out over 2,400 new charge bays across their stores.”
Meanwhile, Marston’s Inns and Taverns is also installing 400 rapid EV chargers at its network of pubs across the country, allowing up to three cars to charge at each site at any one time.
Powered by 100% renewable energy, the new charging points require no membership or connection fee and operate with all contactless payment cards. Each 50kW charger is compatible with all EVs on the market today and provides an 80% charge in around 30-60 minutes (depending on the battery).
The deal is said to be the first of its kind in the UK pub sector.
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