One of the best perks of driving and EV is the special treatment when it comes to parking. Many stores not only put EV charging right by the front door, but they also give away kilo-watts for free. Tesco is one example of such stores, having just installed its 200th set of EV chargers.
Through a partnership with Volkswagen UK, Tesco has given away 669 megawatts of power to over 150,000 customers so far. With the installation of their milestone chargers in Chester, the company made a point to mention how the total energy they’ve given out could power the city for a whole day.
We’re now well on our way to achieving our ambition of installing more than 2,400 EV charging bays across 600 Tesco stores. The 200th store is a landmark moment as we get back up and running with this programme after the Covid-19 pandemic meant we had to delay our plans. -Jason Tarry, Tesco CEO UK
The target goal of 2,400 chargers across 600 stores is still a long way off. As is, the free chargers have surely saved a lot of emissions, the equivalent of 1.8 million miles worth of gas driving. However, the tripling of these destination chargers will mean far more than that over the coming years.
Tesco and VW partnered with a firm called Pod Point. They are really pushing matters ahead in the UK, with this kind of accessible utility. Many people don’t realize how easy and cheap it can be to charge at places you’re already going, and this will clear that up.
The free chargers are 7 kW, where Tesco has also started to deploy 50 kW and 22 kW systems that charge market rates for their higher output.
