Tesco’s electric vehicle (EV) charger rollout has hit a new milestone, with chargers now installed at 500 stores.
The supermarket giant said use of the chargers has surged by 300% over the past year, bringing the number of free charging sessions on the network up from 500,000 in April 2021 to over 2 million by the end of February 2022.
“We’re thrilled to see the rollout of free EV charging at our retail stores gather pace,” said Jason Tarry, CEO at Tesco UK & ROI.
“This latest milestone highlights the commitment across the business to our goal of carbon neutrality in the UK by 2035.”
The 7kW chargers and 22kW chargers on the network are free to use for shoppers, while 50kW rapid chargers are also available. The network includes more than 1,000 chargers, including 100 rapid chargers.
Tesco launched the EV charging network together with Volkswagen and Pod Point in 2019, and is currently targeting 2,400 chargers at 600 supermarkets around the UK.
The 500th charger was installed at its Inverness Extra store, while other areas to benefit from installations include Southend-on-Sea, Bolton, Wirral, Walsall and Port Talbot, the company said.
“It gives me great pride to see leading companies coming together to bolster the UK’s switch to electric vehicles,” Transport Minister Trudy Harrison added.
“This Government has already committed £2.5bn to support the rollout of EVs across the country and we will shortly be launching an ambitious infrastructure strategy setting out our plans to deliver a world-class public charging network.”
Tesco is also part of the Electric Vehicle Fleet Accelerator, together with BP, BT, Direct Line Group, Royal Mail, ScottishPower and Severn Trent. The companies’ goals are to future-proof the electricity network infrastructure, enable the UK-wide rollout of charging infrastructure, overcome demand obstacles and expand the supply of UK-made vehicles.