Asda has slashed the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging points across its stores, despite rivals heavily investing in the technology.
According to new figures from RAC, the supermarket giant has switched off more than two thirds of its EV chargers. It had 165 at the start of 2023, compared to just 46 now.
It follows the end of a partnership with EV charging company BP Pulse, and sees Asda with working chargers at only 2% of its stores, The Telegraph reported.
Last year Asda owners the Issa brothers’ petrol station company EG Group struck a deal with Tesla to deploy charging stations across their sites in the UK and Europe.
While Asda acquired EG Group’s UK and Ireland operations last year, which saw it obtain 350 petrol filling station sites, it is understood that the agreement with Tesla will not apply to Asda car parks.
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However, the grocer is understood to be looking into options to replace the EV chargers.
It comes in contrast to the UK supermarkets expanding their EV charging networks in recent months.
In January, Sainsbury’s launched a new EV charging business called ‘Smart Charge’ which is currently available at around 200 ultra-rapid charging bays in more than 20 Sainsbury’s stores. It has plans to expand to over 750 bays at more than 100 stores by the end of 2024.
Last month, Tesco partnered with Vauxhall to encourage more customers to “make sustainable choices” and switch to electric vehicles.
The grocer, which currently claims to offer the country’s largest supermarket charging network with 2,700 charging bays across 619 stores, is updating all bays with a new Vauxhall and Tesco co-branded livery to mark the partnership.
Just last week, East of England Co-op partnered with Osprey Charging to launch two ultra-rapid charge points at its Burnham-on-Crouch store, with more points to be rolled out at a further seven sites over coming months.
