Tesco EV charge point rollout hits 200th store milestone

Pod Point partnered with Volkswagen and Tesco in November 2018 to install 2,400 charging points across 600 stores in the UK.

The nationwide rollout has now reached the 200th store milestone following the installation of four free-to-use 7kW charging bays at the Tesco Superstore in Chester.

EV drivers at 200 Tesco stores can now top up their battery for free while they shop, with all electricity used to charge cars generated from renewable sources.

The Tesco Chester install marks the 402nd charging point installed to date as part of the rollout. At least two charging points (equivalent to four charging bays) are installed per store location.

Since the rollout began in 2019, over 669 MWh of energy has powered customers’ vehicles which is enough energy to power all homes in Chester for more than 24 hours1, drive over 3,000,0002 miles (or around planet earth 120 times) in a Volkswagen e-Golf and equivalent to saving 374,391 kg of CO2 tailpipe emissions, the amount produced by around 245 petrol cars driven over one year3.

Erik Fairbairn, Founder and CEO, Pod Point said: “Our partnership with Tesco and Volkswagen is making it easier for drivers to go electric and will help speed up the transition to EVs. Vehicle electrification is one of the most powerful ways to stop travel damaging the earth.”

Jason Tarry, Tesco CEO UK & ROI, said: “We’re now well on our way to achieving our ambition of installing more than 2,400 EV charging bays across 600 Tesco stores.

“The 200th store is a landmark moment as we get back up and running with this programme after the Covid-19 pandemic meant we had to delay our plans.

“Providing customers with charging points offers them a sustainable choice and giving them the opportunity to charge their car for free while they shop is a little help to make this easier.”

Sarah Cox, head of marketing for Volkswagen UK said: “It’s fantastic that we’ve reached another milestone in our partnership with Tesco and Pod Point, there are now 200 stores with chargers that drivers of any electric vehicle can use for free.
 
“As the partnership continues, and more stores roll out new chargers, we are really proud to be breaking down barriers to EV ownership and demonstrating to people that living with an EV is easy.”

The rollout is rapidly expanding the UK public charging network and is tackling a number of locations with limited charging facilities (less than 10 chargers per 100,000) such as in Barnsley, Wirral and Wellingborough as well as previous ‘notspots’ (areas without a single public place to charge) such as Barrow-in-Furness which now has two public charging points located at the town’s Tesco Extra store.

The 200th store milestone also represents 12 per cent of the total Tesco store footprint with EV charging facilities (200 of 1678 stores with car parking), a figure that will grow to 36 per cent once the rollout is complete. The partnership is on track to install a further 200 stores by the end of the year.