Pod Point, Volkswagen and Tesco’s partnership has today [29 March] reached the 500th store milestone in its free EV charging network rollout.
The latest charging location was opened at the Tesco Extra store in Inverness as the network works to boosts local infrastructure, and achieve its goal of introducing charging point across 600 UK stores.
Since the three companies launched the network in 2019, it has provided two million charges, a 300% increase in usage from 500,000 charges in April 2021. The collaboration also reported this has led to a saving of 8,786 tonnes of CO2 compared with travelling the same distance in an ICE car – almost the equivalent CO2 absorbed by 900,000 trees in a year.
Jason Tarry, CEO at Tesco UK & ROI, said: “We’re thrilled to see the rollout of free EV charging at our retail stores gather pace. The network is helping customers visiting Tesco who need to save time and charge while they shop.
“This latest milestone highlights the commitment across the business to our goal of carbon neutrality in the UK by 2035.”
The network’s 7kW chargers and 22kW chargers are free to use, and its 50kW rapid chargers are available at a competitive rate.
“We want to make carbon neutral mobility accessible to everyone. That’s why we’ve made sure these chargers aren’t just for Volkswagens and can be used by any electric car brand,” added Sarah Cox, head of marketing at Volkswagen UK.
“It’s hugely encouraging that drivers from over 220 models from almost 40 different brands have already benefited from free, green top ups while shopping at Tesco.”
