Tesco now has 600 stores in the UK with charging points installed and has also fitted its first set of 75kW charging units on a trial basis, to complement the existing 7kW, 22kW and 50kW units - but they are no bargain.

From this month customers shopping at the Cheshunt, Osterley, Shrewsbury, Ashby De La Zouch and York Extra stores, and at the Newark New Ollerton Superstore will be able to try new 75kW public rapid chargers. A further six stores will be installed with 75kW units as part of the trial later this year.

The 75kW will cost 69p per kWh – which makes it more expensive than ultra rapid charges from rivals such as Gridserve and the same as bp pulse’s 150kW prices. This contrasts with the slower chargers at Tesco, which are some of the cheapest available.

Since Tesco, Volkswagen and Pod Point launched the network in 2019, the charging points have been used more than 6,000,000 times and provided 43,218kWh of energy - enough to power more than 4,000 homes for a whole day.

The 600th installation at the store on the remote Scottish island of Orkney is the culmination of a programme which has seen more than 2,500 charging bays installed at 600 Tesco stores across the UK over the last three years – with all electricity used to charge cars generated from renewable sources. The network also includes 129 50kW+ rapid chargers.

Jason Tarry, Tesco's UK CEO, said: “From Orkney all the way to Southampton, we’re helping customers to make sustainable choices by giving them somewhere easy and convenient to charge while they shop with us. Hitting our target of 600 stores with EV charging is a great milestone – and our work doesn’t stop there, as we’re now installing our first 75kW rapid chargers too.”