Supermarkets going that extra mile for electric vehicle owners by installing charge points at their stores have been revealed in a new study.
Nearly 1,000 new devices have been retrofitted into supermarket car parks across the country since January 2020, data revealed by Zap-Map and RAC confirms.
Tesco was found to be leading the charge with 922 devices now available across its network of stores, but it’s Morrisons that has the most rapid charge points.
Best supermarkets for EV owners: Tesco has installed the most electric vehicle charge points since January 2020, analysis by Zap-Map and the RAC has revealed
A total of 2,059 charge points are now located at UK supermarkets – up 85 per cent from 1,112 before January 2020.
It means that almost 8 per cent of the nation’s 26,000 public charges are located at supermarkets – up from 6.5 per cent in early 2020 – and 1,300 stores across the country now have at least one charging device for EVs located on site.
And analysis shows that Tesco has added more chargers than any other supermarket in the last 21 months.
The grocery giant has added 641 new devices, giving it a total of 922 across its 4,008 stores – 676 more than its nearest EV charging rival, Asda, which has 246 chargers.
Tesco now has charging facilities at 514 of its sites – 372 more than at the start of last year. It currently claims to have over 600 stores with fuel stations attached to them.
The data suggests that just 13 per cent of all Tesco stores now have EV charging facilities, though the analysis counts Tesco Express and Metro locations, which not always have dedicated car parks.
This table shows the surge in installations of new charge points since the start of 2020 and now
Tesco – which does have the most stores across the country – has added 641 new charging devices in the last 21 months, giving it a total of 922 across its 4,008 stores
The data shows few supermarkets other than Tesco, Morrisons, Asda and Lidl (pictured) have, to date, decided to invest heavily in EV chargers for their customers
Morrisons installed chargers at 112 stores during the same 21 period, which means two in five of its supermarkets now offer EV charging – which is the greatest proportion of any supermarket.
Its nearest rival Lidl has chargers at a quarter (24 per cent) of its stores after adding EV facilities at 141 locations to give it 203 sites in total.
The data shows few supermarkets other than Tesco, Morrisons, Asda and Lidl have, to date, decided to invest heavily in EV chargers for their customers.
Two in five Morrisons locations now have EV charging facilities. Tesco’s coverage of 13% of stores is due to it having far more sites across the country – and the data likely includes Tesco Express and Metro stores, which don’t always have dedicated car parks
Morrisons has the most fast-charging rapid devices
Both the RAC and Zap-Map have said that supermarkets are the ideal locations for EV chargers, with the average shopper spending around 45 minutes in a store doing their grocery shopping – an ample amount of time to boost the batteries of a plug-in car.
The RAC also says that availability of rapid charge points is ‘vitally important’ to enabling drivers to make longer journeys conveniently as well as own and run an EV even if they don’t have the facility to easily install a home charger.
Some 280 more rapid charge points have been installed at supermarkets from the start of 2020 to September 2021, meaning there are now 454 of the devices for EV driving shoppers to use.
Morrisons is leading the way with rapid devices at 40 per cent (197 locations) of its 497 stores compared to nearest rival Lidl, which has 150 rapid charging locations, representing 17 per cent of its 860 stores.
Morrisons is the supermarket with the largest network of rapid electric charging points, allowing customers to replenish the batteries of their electric and plug-in hybrid cars in 20 minutes
Morrisons is leading the way with rapid devices. Of its 497 stores, 197 have the fastest-charging points
While Tesco clearly has more chargers of any speed, it currently lags behind Morrisons and Lidl with when it comes to rapids with just 64 – and all but two of those were added since early 2020.
Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder of Zap-Map, said it was ‘encouraging’ to see that supermarkets had made progress with charging installations in light of the boom in EV sales, particularly since covid lockdowns were eased.
‘These facilities will be good both for ‘top-up’ charging and as a replacement for home charging,’ she said.
‘As we move towards 2030, it will be important for supermarkets not only to accelerate this roll-out but also to ensure that the consumer experience is as good as possible by providing ‘open access’ and simple payment options.’
The report comes days after a freedom of information request to UK councils revealed that half had not invested any money into public charging infrastructure in the last 12 months.
Another October report also claimed that Britain needs to almost double its current installations of public charge points to meet electric vehicle demand ahead of the ban on sales on new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars, a new report warns.
As we move towards 2030, it will be important for supermarkets not only to accelerate this roll-out but also to ensure that the consumer experience is as good as possible by providing ‘open access’ and simple payment options
Melanie Shufflebotham, Zap-Map
Transport research group, New AutoMotive, said an average of 27 new devices are added to the public charging network per day – a number that needs to rise to 50 per day.
There are currently around 24,000 public chargers, with at least 230,000 needed by 2035 if motorists are going to have convenient access for plugging in their zero-emission models.
New AutoMotive warned that the Government’s green targets could be ‘undermined’ if charger installations are not upped by an adequate rate to meet the growing demand for EVs with the ban on new internal combustion engine cars eight years away.
RAC director of EVs Sarah Winward-Kotecha said: ‘While the majority of drivers going electric will be fortunate enough to be able to charge easily on their driveways at home, for the remainder it won’t be so easy so having access to free, or affordable, charging facilities at supermarkets is very important, and could even help accelerate EV take-up in the first place.
‘Rapid charge points, in particular, make it possible to run an EV easily without access to a home charger as drivers can get their cars topped up in the time it takes them to do their weekly shop.
‘We call on all the supermarket chains to let their customers know what to expect when it comes to EV charging provision and recognise the vital role they play in encouraging many more drivers to opt for electric cars next time they change their vehicles.’
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