British supermarket chain Asda has partnered with energy company Engie to bring free EV charging points to a number of its West Yorkshire stores.
Supplying 100% renewable energy from Engie, the rapid charge points provide customers with, on average, 160 miles range. The chargers will be free to use until October 29th this year, after which customers will begin to pay to use the points.
Customers will have 24/7 access to the charging points across 19 stores including Bradford, Killingbeck, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Middleton, Asda’s sustainability store, rolling out over the next 12 weeks.
John Mutton, Asda’s senior asset manager said: “We know that our customers and colleagues are always looking for ways to live more sustainably and we want to continue to help them do that with ease, which is why I’m really pleased we’ve made it convenient for them to access charging points so they can plug in whilst they shop.
“With thanks to our partner Engie, customers will see these charging points installed in some of our carparks over the coming weeks and we hope that by making them easily accessible, it will encourage more drivers to look at greener vehicles in the future and support a reduction in carbon emissions.”
The chargers can be located by Engie’s web-app and are part of a wider launch of EV charging points across West Yorkshire.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority appointed Engie to install and operate at least 88 rapid charging points across the region, following £2m of funding from the government’s Office of Zero Emission Vehicles in 2019.
Each charging point includes one bay for taxis and private hire vehicles and one bay for all other users.
Kim Groves, chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority transport committee, said: “The 19 electric vehicle charging points installed at Asda stores throughout the region form part of our commitment to install at least 88 charging points across West Yorkshire by the end of this summer to improve air quality and help people to change to electric vehicles.
“Our partnership with Engie is part of our drive to dramatically reduce emissions from transport as we make West Yorkshire a net-zero carbon economy by 2038.”
