According to RAC’s analysis of Zap-Map data, supermarkets account for 6.5% of all the UK’s public charge points. By the end of 2017, there were 542 electric vehicle (EV) charging points installed at supermarkets; then, by the end of 2019, there were 1,115. That means the number of EV charging points has doubled in two years.
RAC also found that the number of stores offering charging facilities doubled as well. From 2017 to 2019, 313 new stores added chargers – an average of two units per site. Now, 608 supermarket locations cater to battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Here are some other figures revealed from the motor company’s analysis:
- Asda has the most locations with charge points – out of its 633 sites, 122 have EV chargers (19%).
- Morrisons has the second-highest proportion of locations – out of 494 stores, 89 have chargers (18%).
- Waitrose comes in third – out of 349 stores, 49 have charge points (14%).
- Tesco has the most locations equipped with charge points – 142 stores.
- Tesco has installed the highest number of charge points – 258 between 2017 and 2019.
- Morrison comes in second with 83 installed (total 143);
- Co-op third with 86 installed (total 88);
- Lidl fourth with 48 (total 76);
- Aldi fifth with 40 (total 72);
- And Sainsbury sixth with 27.
- 25% of all supermarket charge points are at Tesco stores (281 in all).
- Asda comes in second for the highest number of charge points – 228.
- 15% of supermarkets provide rapid charging.
- Morrison has the most rapid chargers – 84 units (59% of all their charge points).
- Lidl comes in second – 48 units (out of 76);
- And Co-op comes in third with 16 (out of 88).
Melanie Shufflebotham, the co-founder of charging point platform, Zap-Map, said:
It is very encouraging to see supermarkets increasingly embracing electric vehicle charging at their stores with a dramatic shift in the number of chargers being installed over the course of the last two years. Our research shows that while the majority of charging is done at home, most EV drivers use the public network more than once a month. While a robust rapid infrastructure across the country is essential for longer journeys, having charge points in supermarkets provides EV drivers an excellent way to ‘graze’ energy while doing an everyday task.
With 89% of EV drivers3 taking the availability of charge points into account when selecting their parking, providing charging can be a real differentiator locally in the competitive supermarket sector. This seems to be recognized by some supermarkets, notably Tesco and Sainsbury’s, providing EV charging for free.
RAC spokesman, Simon Williams, said:
It is extremely positive to see the supermarkets making it easy for drivers to go electric. Having more chargers that are readily available will help to speed up the transition from petrol and diesel cars to electric ones. We have always said that it makes sense for people to be able to charge at supermarkets because anyone doing a full shop will inevitably spend 45 minutes in the store. The UK’s big four supermarkets currently dominate fuel retailing so it will be very interesting to see if a similar battle will develop in EV charging.
At the moment the emphasis seems to be very much on installing any form of charge point. It is our belief that as the EV market matures there will be less need for slower chargers and a greater need for higher-power ones. The introduction of more rapid chargers at supermarkets may even stimulate take-up now as it would make EVs viable for those who cannot charge at home because of where they live. Currently, it seems that rapids are very much in their infancy at supermarkets, but hopefully, this is all about to change. Very positively, new car sales figures reveal that three times as many BEVs were registered in January 2020 as were in January 2019.
Car industry data shows there are over 100,000 battery-electric vehicles now on the UK’s roads and over 170,000 plug-in hybrids. Furthermore, the research conducted for the RAC Report on Motoring shows that the number of drivers who plan on buying a pure electric battery-powered car when their current vehicle needs to be replaced has doubled since a year ago.
