Tesco is happy to have reached its goal of having 600 stores have electronic charging stations, which has reduced carbon emissions by more than 24,000 tonnes.

Tesco is happy to have reached its goal of having 600 stores have electronic charging stations, which has reduced carbon emissions by more than 24,000 tonnes.

The 600th store in the UK to have EV charging stations built is Tesco’s Kirkwall superstore. The network’s charging stations have so far produced 43,218kWh of energy since Tesco, Volkswagen, and Pod Point debuted it in 2019. This is enough energy to run more than 4,000 homes for an entire day.

The installation at the Orkney store is the result of a plan that saw more than 2,500 EV charging bays installed at 600 Tesco stores throughout the UK over the last three years. All of the electricity used to charge the vehicles was produced from renewable sources. In addition, 129 quick charges are part of the network.

As the UK gets ready for an electric future, the partnership was revealed to upgrade the charging infrastructure. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, there will be 693,307 battery-electric vehicles in the UK at the end of February 2023, a 610 percent rise from the number of BEVs in 2019.

In order to provide EV drivers with a location to recharge their vehicles while doing their shopping, Tesco collaborated with Volkswagen and Pod Point to create the largest retail electric vehicle charging network in the UK.
More than 24,000 tonnes of CO2 have already been saved by the charges, which have been used more than 6,000,000 times.

According to Tesco UK CEO Jason Tarry, “We’re helping customers make sustainable choices by offering them somewhere simple and convenient to charge while they shop with us. From Orkney all the way to Southampton. Reaching our goal of 600 stores with EV charging is a fantastic accomplishment, but our work is far from over. We are currently building our first 75kW rapid chargers.

“Meeting the 600-store target is an awesome achievement and makes the Tesco rollout by far the biggest retail EV charging network in the UK,” said Erik Fairbairn, founder and CEO of Pod Point. With a safe, dependable, and convenient way to top off while shopping, we’ve been giving drivers the confidence to switch to electric vehicles since 2019. We have a lot to be proud of, including our collaboration with Tesco and Volkswagen and our addition to the charging network in the UK.

“We’re really proud of this partnership with Tesco and Pod Point, which has always been about providing sustainable charging access and infrastructure to all BEV and PHEV vehicle owners in the UK,” said Sarah Cox, Head of Marketing at Volkswagen UK. Reaching the 600-store mark demonstrates our commitment to assisting as many people as feasible in switching to electric mobility.

Any owner of an electric vehicle from an EV maker is welcome to use the charging stations. Just plug in the charger, open the Pod Point app, and check your charge.

The next phase of the Tesco EV charging network, which will see Pod Point place the retailer’s first set of 75kW charging units on a trial basis to complement the current 7kW, 22kW, and 50kW units across the Tesco estate, will launch in conjunction with the 600th store milestone.

Customers will be able to take advantage of the new 75kW public rapid chargers starting this month when they buy at Tesco’s Cheshunt, Osterley, Shrewsbury, Ashby De La Zouch, and York Extra stores, as well as the Newark New Ollerton Superstore. Later this year, six more stores will have 75kW units put as part of the trial.

Customers with various charging needs, from those looking for a quick top-up to drivers needing a fuller charge, will be catered to by the variety of charging speeds. The 75kW will be offered for 69p per kWh.

GSN