Retail giant Tesco has announced that its Kirkwall superstore has become its 600th store in the UK to have EV charging points installed.
Since Tesco, Volkswagen and Pod Point launched the network in 2019, the charging points have provided a total of 43,218kWh of energy to date.
Tesco claims this is enough to power more than 4,000 homes for a whole day.
The British retailer noted that the installation at the store on the remote Scottish island of Orkney, is the culmination of a programme which has seen more than 2,500 EV charging bays installed at 600 Tesco stores across the UK over the last three years – with all electricity used to charge cars generated from renewable sources.
The network also includes 129 rapid chargers.
Owners of electric cars made by any EV manufacturer can use the charging points, the retailer added.
Drivers need to download the Pod Point app, plug in the charger and confirm their charge.
'Sustainable Choices'
“From Orkney all the way to Southampton, we’re helping customers to make sustainable choices by giving them somewhere easy and convenient to charge while they shop with us," said Jason Tarry, CEO of Tesco UK.
"Hitting our target of 600 stores with EV charging is a great milestone – and our work doesn’t stop there, as we’re now installing our first 75kW rapid chargers too.”
The 600th store milestone also coincides with the next phase of the Tesco EV charging network with Pod Point installing the retailers’ first set of 75kW charging units, on a trial basis, to complement the existing 7kW, 22kW and 50kW units across its estate.
From this month, customers shopping at the Tesco Cheshunt, Osterley, Shrewsbury, Ashby De La Zouch and York Extra stores, and at the Newark New Ollerton Superstore will have access to the new 75kW public rapid chargers.
A further six stores will be installed with 75kW units as part of the trial later this year, Tesco added.
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