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According to a new study, one in eight UK supermarkets now offer electric vehicle (EV) charging, despite Asda deactivating most of its devices.
An analysis by RAC location service and ZAPMAP charger found that the number of supermarkets with EV chargers increased from 1,015 at the end of 2022 to 1,616 12 months later.
The most recent figure is 13% of the 12,839 supermarkets, including those that do not have parking.
Morrisons is the supermarket chain with the highest proportion of outlets offering electric vehicle charging (69%), followed by Lidl (30%).
Asda has charging services in just 2% of its stores, as many of its devices were deactivated after its contract with infrastructure provider bp pulse ended.
RAC EV spokesperson Simon Williams said: “Concerns about a lack of public charging stations are one of the main reasons drivers don’t opt to go electric when buying their next car, and six out of ten tell us that. “
“It’s very encouraging to see supermarkets doing everything they can to allay those fears by expanding EV charging services in a greater proportion of their areas.
“Knowledge also shows a sharp increase in investment in faster chargers. These fast, ultra-fast devices are as close as drivers can get to refueling, offering the fastest charging speeds.
“Given that supermarkets have dominated fuel sales in the UK lately, it makes sense for them to check and retain as much of this market share as possible by catering to the wishes of all EV drivers looking to qualify as temporarily as possible. “
Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder of Zapmap, said: “With around 3,000 charging stations currently installed in supermarkets across the UK, it’s positive to see this sustained expansion in charging topics that are so popular for EV drivers.
“The total number of supermarkets offering EV charging stations has not increased to nearly 60% in the last year, but we have also noticed a significant expansion in the number of those important fast and ultra-fast charging stations.
An Asda spokesperson said: “Our agreement with bp pulse ended in October last year.
“These EV charging stations remain on-site with clear signage to let consumers know the appliance is in use lately, while we review our options. “
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