Smart Charge, the ultra-rapid EV charging network owned by supermarket chain Sainsbury’s, has announced it has powered the equivalent of 60 million driving miles on UK roads.
The Smart Charge brand was launched in January 2024 and hosts over 650 ultra-rapid charging bays at 75 Sainsbury’s stores across the UK. Despite this number falling short of the 750 charging bays across 100 Sainsbury’s stores the company targeted for the end of 2024, since its launch a little over a year ago the Smart Charge network has supplied enough renewable energy to power EVs for over 60 million miles.
Sainsbury’s has invested £25 million into the network in the past 12 months, and Smart Charge costs around 72p per kWh to charge – lower than the average cost of rapid/ultra-rapid charging, which according to Zapmap sits at 76p per kWh. Ultra-rapid 150kW chargers are used across the network, which are powered by 100% renewable energy and can charge an average EV in as little as 30 minutes.
Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury’s director of property, procurement & EV ventures, said that the milestone “shows what’s possible with investment and a relentless focus on our customers”. He added that investing in the EV network is a key part of Sainsbury’s strategy going forward, and stated that the company is “excited to keep building on its initial success and take Smart Charge even further in the months and years ahead”.
Since December of last year, the Sainsbury’s Smart Charge EV charging service has been integrated into utility Octopus’ public charging platform, Octopus Electroverse. Drivers are able to access the entire network using their Octopus Electroverse smart card as well as by using contactless credit and debit cards.
Public charging infrastructure has been noted to be a vital part of the switch to EVs, as proven by a survey conducted by EV chargepoint mapping service Zapmap. The survey of almost 3,750 EV drivers found that over half of EV drivers use the public charging network at least once per month, even though over 70% of respondents have a dedicated home charger. The survey also revealed that 61% of respondents believe public charging infrastructure has improved in the last year in terms of reliability, availability, and accessibility.
Zapmap also revealed at the end of March 2025 that the public EV charging network in the UK is growing increasingly popular, with public EV chargers supporting over two million charging sessions each month in the UK. Of these sessions, almost 60% use rapid or ultra-rapid chargers, like those used on the Smart Charge network.
