Tesco best supermarket for electric car charge points, study finds

A new study by Electrifying.com has found that nearly half (45%) of Tesco stores have charging points.

Close behind Tesco, over 40% of Morrisons stores offer customers the ability to charge, while nearly one in five (19.71%) Asda locations provide at least one place to plug in. Sainsbury’s, however, has fewer than one in 10 (7.2%) of its stores currently providing charge points for customers.

The study, which surveyed the UK’s largest supermarket chains (excluding ‘express’ or ‘local’ stores), found a significant disparity in the provision of charging for electric cars. For drivers without off-street parking, charging at supermarkets could make ownership feasible.

This was underlined in a recent poll by Electrifying.com, the Department for Transport and the AA, which found that 72% of drivers would be more likely to consider buying an electric car if there was more opportunity to charge at supermarkets.

While Sainsbury’s came out bottom of the pile with fewer than one in 10 (7.2%) of its stores offering at least one charge point; Aldi was only marginally better with 10%.

Lidl customers have a slightly better chance of finding a store with at least one charge point, with its hit rate reaching 15%.

Ginny Buckley, founder of Electrifying.com, said: “Congratulations to Tesco and Morrisons which have both invested heavily to provide customers with good charging facilities. We’d love every supermarket site to offer this, but we aren’t there yet.
 
“We expected more supermarkets to be doing better, but it’s still great to see how some of them have recognised that offering shoppers reliable car charging is not only good for business but will also help give the nation confidence to make the switch.
 
“With electric cars surging in popularity – July saw battery electric vehicles claim 9%** market share in the UK – and ambitious government targets to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, providing charging infrastructure at convenient locations is crucial to encourage drivers to go electric sooner, particularly the significant number that don’t have access to off-street parking.