Fleet Management
Electric vehicle charging points at supermarket doubles
(Posted on 03/03/20)
Registrations of electric vehicles (EV) are at an all-time high and as demand increases so does the
need for a reliable charging infrastructure.
Fleets with electric or hybrid vehicles on the company car scheme will welcome the news this week
that the number of EV charge points at supermarkets has doubled in the past two years, according
to data analysed by charging-point map provider, Zap-Map and the RAC.
A total of 542 EV charger units were installed by supermarkets from the end of October 2017 to the
end of 2019, taking the total on their sites to 1,115 – a growth of 95%. This means 6.5% of all the
UK’s public charge points are located at supermarkets.
The number of stores offering charging facilities has also doubled with 608 supermarket sites now
catering for battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Although this only equates to 5% of all supermarkets, several of the smaller supermarket sites do not
have car parks which affects the figures.
Simon Williams, a spokesman for the RAC, 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 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.”
Tesco has the most stores with charging facilities, it is also the supermarket brand that has increased
the number of charge points the most between 2017 and 2019.
Asda has the greatest proportion of locations where an EV can be charged – 122 of its 633 sites
(19%). Morrisons has 89 of its 494 stores (18%), while Waitrose comes in third place with 14% – 49
of 349 stores.
Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder of 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.
“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.”
As the number of consumers with electric vehicles grows so does the number of fleets offering
electric vehicles as part of the company car scheme.
Having a reliable charging infrastructure across the country is vital but companies also need to
provide provision for employees to charge vehicles while at work.
The Government offers incentives for businesses providing charging points under the Workplace
Charging Scheme (WPS).
Grants are available for businesses and currently offer grants of up to £500 per socket at 75% of the
total cost of installation up to a maximum of 20 sockets. The charging units must be installed on
dedicated off-street parking for staff, visitors, or fleet use.
When applying for grants businesses must prove there is a need to install the charging points.
This could be for existing EV fleet vehicles, to provide an incentive for the uptake of plug-in vehicles
with staff, provide a charging place for visitors or to charge new EVs due to arrive on the fleet.
Charging for customers is not currently included in the funding.
There are several apps which show charging points across the UK:
For information on leasing electric vehicles contact ![]()
www.fleetsauce.co.uk or call 08000 321 433.
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