First Moves Towards Predicted Supermarket EV Charge Points
Friday, 10. July 2020
Something I’ve been predicting for years now looks likely to happen. It’s an obvious move for supermarkets to encourage customers to ‘Charge and Shop’ and encourage customers to shop out of peak hours in order to easily access chargers.
Engenie will install electric vehicle (EV) rapid chargers at 10 Brookhouse Group retail sites across the UK, as part of a new partnership.
The EV charging network will provide destination charging for customers visting large retail brands such as Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Argos, Next, Aldi, and M&S.
Mike Nuttall, property director at Brookhouse, said: “The way we travel is changing like never before and already we are seeing a wholesale shift towards electric mobility.
Customers will expect to be able to charge their vehicles wherever they shop, and our tenants will expect us to provide the infrastructure which enables them to do so.
Engenie’s convenient, easy to use and rapid chargers provide the perfect solution to attract the rapidly growing number of EV driving customers to our sites.”
Engenie covers all costs associated with installing and servicing the rapid charging points, eliminating the financial risk for Brookhouse.
The full rollout will see a total of 17 Engenie rapid chargers installed across ten sites throughout the UK. Seven charging sites, hosting a total of 13 rapid chargers, are already open to the public, with the remaining three sites expected to be completed before the end of the year.
The charging points will be located at the following sites:
- Meteor Shopping Park, Bournemouth
- Canal Road, Bradford
- Manchester Road Shopping Park, Stockport
- Queens Shopping Park, Preston
- Parsonage Retail Park, Leigh
- Barnfield Retail Park, Chichester
- Alexandra Retail Park, Oldham
- North Quay Retail Park, Lowestoft
- Cables Shopping Park, Prescot
- Hamilton Shopping Park, Hamilton
Customers can access Engenie’s rapid charge points without the need for membership or subscription. They operate on a contactless payment method. The chargers are compatible with every EV on the market today and can provide up to 80 miles of charge in 30 minutes, depending on the vehicle’s charging speed.
Patrick Sherriff, business development director at Engenie, said: “By ‘grabbing the grid’ and securing vital connections for rapid EV chargers before its competitors, Brookhouse is staying ahead of the curve, and positioning its sites as the go-to shopping destinations for EV drivers.
What’s more, our partnership is further proliferating easy-to-use charging infrastructure across the UK, enabling thousands of customers to top up their vehicles while they shop at their favourite retail outlets with the simple tap of a smartphone or contactless card.”
This announcement is Engenie’s latest deal in the retail park sector, following previous announcements with Reef, M7, Northumberland Estates and more due to open this year. The company plans to double the number of rapid chargers in the UK by 2024. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News
