St Austell Brewery has partnered with ScottishPower to install over 300 electric vehicle (EV) chargers in pub car parks across the South West of England.
EV charging provision is limited in the South West; Cornwall Council estimates there are only around 450 EV chargepoints in the entire county. According to ScottishPower and St Austell Brewery, this new collaboration will boost chargepoint availability in the region by around 60%.
Chargepoints will be installed in the car parks of St Austell Brewery’s 160 pubs across the South West.
Paul Hine, supply chain director of St Austell Brewery, said: “We have a proud history of innovation, so working with ScottishPower to install electric car chargers was a great way to prepare our pubs for an electric future. For us, going greener makes good business sense.
“We know that investing in this green tech will help us reduce our carbon footprint and thanks to ScottishPower we have been able to do this at scale. We’re proud to be providing charging points for our local communities and creating an ‘electric tourist trail’ for anybody visiting our sites and this beautiful part of the country. What better excuse to visit the pub for a well-deserved break and a spot of lunch?”
Andrew Mouat, head of smart mobility at ScottishPower, added: “Since the beginning of our partnership, the team at St Austell Brewery always had clear goals of wanting to bring something special to their business and the local community in the South West.
“At ScottishPower, we want to help businesses integrate green tech into their operations to allow their customers to live a more sustainable lifestyle while creating a new revenue stream. We help business leaders find the best chargers for their carparks, manage and cover the cost of installation, and service the units for the term of the contract.”
Chargepoint infrastructure needs to increase
With analysis from BloombergNEF predicting that global EV sales will continue on a record-breaking trajectory, the need for public charging infrastructure has never been clearer. In fact, the perceived lack of available chargers is one of the major barriers to transitioning to an EV, with research showing that almost 60% of people see charging as preventing them from purchasing an EV.
A report by Cornwall Insight shows that the UK will need to double the pace of EV chargepoint installation in order to meet its 2030 target of 300,000 installed chargepoints.
In response, trade association ChargeUK has published a manifesto outlining a 12-step plan to ensure that UK charging infrastructure can keep up with consumer demand.
