Waitrose has become the latest supermarket to announce a big investment in its electric car charging infrastructure.
The partnership with Shell will see 800 EV charging points installed across the UK by 2025 at as many as 100 Waitrose shops. Each site is expected to have two 50kW rapid chargers for quicker top-ups and six 22kW chargers for slower charging.
The first of the charge points are set to be installed at Waitrose early next year, and will also be the first of Shell’s ‘destination chargers’, whereby motorists plug in their vehicles at a location they’re visiting and park their cars normally, rather than driving specifically just to charge their vehicles. Shell says by 2025 it will have 5,000 charging points across the UK, including at its petrol stations and at other sites.
Bernadette Williamson, general manager Shell UK Retail, said: “This is great news for EV drivers across the UK, knowing they can easily, quickly and reliably charge up at Shell charge points while shopping at Waitrose. We want to make EV charging as hassle-free as possible and support our customers wherever they want to charge.”
This move by Waitrose expands the convenience of electric car charging, with both Tesco and Lidl already having partnerships with Pod Point that allows drivers to plug their cars in while shopping. Morrisons also has a deal with Genie Point that enables this convenient charger, while around 140 NewMotion chargers are set to be rolled out at Aldi supermarkets over the next few years.
