VW joins Tesco to power up electric car drivers with 2,500 charge pods across UK

Drivers will be able to charge up their electric cars for free

Tesco and Volkswagen have teamed up to launch the UK’s largest retail electric vehicle charging network.

The firms will install almost 2,500 charging bays across up to 600 Tesco stores over the next three years.

Customers will be able to charge their electric cars using a standard 7kW fast charger for free, or use a rapid 50kW charger at the market rate.

The announcement follows a growing demand for more public charging points – with sales of non-fossil fuel vehicles up by more than 20 per cent in the UK this year.

Charging bays will be based in prominent designated spaces at Tesco Extra and Superstore car parks throughout the country.

When all the new units are fully operational, tens of thousands of motorists will be able to charge, or partially re-charge, their electric vehicles each day while shopping.

Jason Tarry, Tesco’s UK and Ireland chief executive, said: “This is part of our wider commitment to addressing the environmental challenges that matter most to our customers, colleagues and communities.

“We want to be the leading electric vehicle energy provider and to support our customers with more sustainable solutions.”

The initiative builds on the supermarket’s commitment to using electricity from only renewable sources.

Electric cars are experiencing huge growth in the UK.

Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed that more than 120,000 ‘alternatively fuelled vehicles’ have been registered in the UK in 2018 – a 22-per-cent increase on the same period last year.

The initiative, which allows the majority of electric car owners – not just Volkswagen drivers – to charge their cars for free, has been welcomed by both the government and the WWF.

Jesse Norman, the electric vehicles minister, said: “The government is committed to making the UK the best place in the world to build and own an electric vehicle.

“For that we need high-quality infrastructure in place to support ultra-low emission vehicles around the country.

“The government set out plans in its Road to Zero strategy to deliver a significant increase in this infrastructure and we welcome Tesco’s pledge to roll out over 2,400 new charge bays across their stores.”

Gareth Redmond King, head of climate change at WWF, added: “Businesses need to decide if they are preparing for a ‘net zero’ world or for climate breakdown.

“One of the big challenges to electric vehicles is that people worry about where they’re going to charge their cars – this roll-out goes a long way to tackling that issue.”

SWNS