Tesco will start charging electric vehicle (EV) drivers to use its supermarket charge points at all stores from Tuesday, November 1.

The supermarket giant first announced it had introduced free chargers at 100 of its Tesco stores in 2019. It was subsequently expanded to 500 stores in March of this year. 

Tesco says that as a result of its free chargers, EV drivers have enjoyed more than 86 million miles of free electric driving. 

The network was launched in by Tesco, Volkswagen and Pod Point, with plans to install around 2,400 charge points.

EV drivers will now have to pay 28p/kWh for the slowest 7kW connections, rising to 40p for the 22kW AC and 50p for the 50kW rapid chargers.

Currently, only the 50kW DC chargers have a cost, which is 28p/kWh.

Payment will have to be made through the Podpoint app for the AC chargers or by contactless for the 50kW rapid points.

In a statement, PodPoint said: “The new tariffs are some of the most competitive in the market and will enable us to continue investing in our network. It’s hoped that by making these changes customers will only top up when they need to, ensuring that they make way for others once their cars are charged.” 

Revenues will help fund and expand the network, with PodPoint expected to meet its target of installing charging at 600 Tesco stores by spring 2023.

Network of ‘free’ chargers allows circumnavigation of Britain

Peugeot has plotted a 2,688-mile journey around the coastline of mainland Britain to highlight the extent of the country’s ‘free’ chargers in June.

Starting at Land’s End, the route ran along England’s southern and eastern coasts, up through Scotland via John O’Groats before returning to Land’s End through Wales using only free public chargers. 

The furthest distance between two free charge points on the route between Chelmsford and Sandringham, was 168 miles.

Many of the approximately 4,400 free charge points in Britain are located in retail parks, hotels and public car parks and are funded by retailers, landowners and some local authorities, according to Zap-Map.

The ChargePlace Scotland network features more than 2,000 chargers, with the majority available for free to users who have the ChargePlace Scotland app or who pay a one-off £10 fee for a charging card.

According to Zap-Map, 84% of free public chargers are “fast” meaning they will charge a car at between 7.5kW and 22kW, allowing owners to fully charge their car in seven hours and 33 minutes from a 7kWh charger, or as little as five hours when fitted with optional 11kW On-board charger (from an 11kWh charge point).

Julie David, managing director at Peugeot UK, said: “Road trips are a great way to experience what the UK has to offer and our research shows the significant cost savings available for electric vehicle drivers thanks to its network of free-to-use public chargers.

“While few motorists are likely to complete the full 2,688-mile loop, our research highlights the potentially under-used free charging network in the UK.”

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