Sainsbury’s has made rapid progress with the rollout of its Smart Charge electric vehicle charging network.
The supermarket opened its 54th site, at its Nine Elms store in Wandsworth, London, last week. It means Sainsbury’s is over the halfway point of its aim to open 100 sites by the end of 2024, less than a year after starting the business.
Sainsbury’s first launched Smart Charge in January, ahead of the launch of its Next Level strategy. While other supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, have built established and much larger EV charging networks, Sainsbury’s was the first to launch its own in house as a separate fully owned business unit.
Smart Charge is also distinct as it comprises solely of “ultra rapid” chargers. The 150kW chargers mean customers can, in theory, fully charge their car in as little as 30 minutes while they shop. The exact speed, however, depends on the type of car and other factors.
Sainsbury’s has been upgrading some of its existing ‘slower’ charge point hubs, as well as adding new sites to the car parks of its larger stores as part of the rollout. The technology is manufactured by Kempower.
The addition of the eight new charge points at Nine Elms means Sainsbury’s now has 445 individual charge points across the 54 sites.
The expansion comes amid a wider shake-up of the 20-strong Smart Charge team, which operates as part of Sainsbury’s property and procurement team, led by Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury’s director of property, procurement and EV ventures.
Suzanne Kirk, who was previously director of procurement, will take over as the new commercial director for Smart Charge.
“We hope EV drivers will enjoy the added convenience and choice the new service provides, giving them confidence that they can top up or do a full charge at our first Wandsworth location,” Dunne said, following the opening of the Nine Elms site.
“We know that demand for speedy, reliable and sustainable EV charging facilities in the UK continues to grow – that’s why Sainsbury’s is rolling out Smart Charge, our new best-in-class ultra-rapid charging service, at supermarkets up and down the country.”
In June, Sainsbury’s added Smart Charge to its Nectar Card loyalty scheme for the first time. Customers now are able to redeem one point for every £1 spent on Smart Charge if they scan their loyalty card or app at the charger point. It was the first time a supermarket had integrated its EV charge infrastructure into its loyalty scheme.
Lidl followed a month later, with plans to enable customers to pay for their charge via the Lidl Plus app.
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