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Report on electric car charging facilities at UK’s top supermarkets uncovers disparities for shoppers up and down the country
66% of Tesco sites have charge points - more than all other supermarkets who responded combined
Comes as Electrifying.com survey of 3,200 drivers reveals the most popular place to charge away from home is at the supermarket, with 37% giving this their vote
Owners of electric cars may want to consider shopping for their groceries at Tesco according to a new study by Electrifying.com which found that two thirds (66%)* of its stores have charge points.
Despite Tesco ending the benefit of free electricity at the beginning of November, it may still be cheaper to ‘fill up’ at a store than it is to plug in at home. With energy prices at an all-time high, the cost to charge a Volkswagen ID.3 for 10k miles per year at home would be £747 when charged at the daytime domestic price cap of 34p/kWh. Charging at Tesco's rate of 28p/kWh would be £615, meaning a saving of £132.
In second place is Lidl, with 28% of its supermarkets providing at least one electric car charge point.
Waitrose is in third place with just 17% of its stores currently offering customers the ability to charge electric cars. However, the company has announced plans to install 800 Shell Recharge charging points in 100 Waitrose locations by 2025.
But electric car owners that favour Aldi might find it is a lottery when it comes to charging their cars, with just 12% of its stores currently providing charge points for customers. But it’s worth hunting them down as Aldi still offers free charging at many sites.
Sainsbury’s, who according to their website have over 600 stores, commented that they have ‘over 100 charge points available at their stores’. They declined to tell us the number of stores the chargers are in, but data from 2021 tells us they were across 43 stores - just 7%. However, all of these points are currently free to use.
The study, which surveyed the UK’s largest supermarket chains excluding ‘express’ or ‘local’ stores, found a significant disparity in the provision of charge points for electric cars. For drivers without off-street parking, charging at supermarkets is seen as a key part of future infrastructure as it allows drivers to get on with other activities while their car is charged.
This was underlined in a recent survey of 3,200 drivers by Electrifying.com which found that the most popular place to charge away from home is at the supermarket, with 37% giving this their vote.
Founder and CEO of Electrifying.com, Ginny Buckley, said:
“With more than half a million electric cars on our roads, providing charging infrastructure at convenient locations - such as supermarkets - is crucial for both current electric car drivers and those thinking of making the switch.
“People are rightly looking for ease and convenience when it comes to charging their cars, with 37% of drivers telling us that other than at home, they would like to be able to charge at a supermarket when buying their groceries.
“Congratulations to Tesco who have invested heavily to provide their customers with good charging facilities; we know that shoppers are feeling the pinch, which is why it’s reassuring to see that despite most supermarkets charging customers to ‘fill up’ with electric, the price for doing so is often cheaper than it would be to charge on-street or even at home.
“While Tesco are on the front foot with providing charging at convenient locations, we need to ensure that the right infrastructure is in place - and at the right price - so that everyone can make the switch with confidence, which is why I would like to see more supermarkets, shopping centres and other leisure destinations following in their footsteps.”
Clare Gregorio, Head of Retail Partnerships at Tesco said:
“We are delighted to be recognised by Electrifying.com as the UK's Best Supermarket for our EV charging network. We’ve provided more than 86 million miles of charging across 563 stores, helping our customers charge their cars when they shop with us. The charging network, installed in partnership with Pod Point and Volkswagen, highlights our commitment to become carbon neutral across our operations in the UK by 2035, and net zero across our whole footprint by 2050.”
Lidl GB said:
“Lidl GB are opening new stores every week, and as such, whilst at the moment we can say that we have over 935 stores, by the time of publishing this will have inevitably changed. Since 2017 Lidl has invested over £15m in the rollout of electric vehicle charging points and we’ve committed to having rapid charging points in place at 300 of our stores by the end of 2022. We include a charge point with every new store we open, where it’s possible to (i.e. if it’s on a retail park it’s not something we have full control of), and the large majority of our stores with charge points feature rapid chargers. Another point of interest is that Lidl chargers were the most used across the Pod Point network in 2020.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said:
“We understand many of our customers want to use electric vehicle charging points and we have over 100 available at our stores. We have learnt a lot from installing these and have been working hard for some time now on our ambitious plan for our next generation of charging points. We want to offer these in as many stores as possible and create a better customer experience by offering both slow and fast charging points. We are well on our way to finalising and delivering our plans and we are confident they will meet the EV charging needs of our customers.
“We are not in a position to share more detail at this point, however we will be making further announcements over the next few months. EV charging is a priority for Sainsbury’s - this has been the case for many months and we are close to updating our colleagues and customers on our plans.”
