Tesco & VW

[Pvapour]

Tesco, VW & Pod Point are rolling out 2500 extra charging bays, largest ever roll out.. should be a healthy boost

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46386858

[Heres Johnny]

Very mixed views in my opinion, if you’re in a supermarket for much more than an hour you’re there too long, on 7kw that’s maybe 20- 30 miles depending on car. Useful I guess if you’ve a small battery but given batteries are increasing a 20 mile top up is lessessential. It encourages constant grazing everywhere by those who aren’t in need which in turn reduces the availability of chargers to those that really need them. Some are obsessed with plugging but in anywhere and everywhere

But then any investment is generally welcome.

In other words It’s a lot of money being spent for those connecting on average under an hour on a slow charger probably less than 10 miles from where they live. Same money on motorway service stations and rapids, or long distance destinations like hospitals large out of town sites (merryhill, Meadowhall, retail outlets like cheshire oaks and Bicester where you drive further to get to and stay longer) would be a better utility, just unfortunately it’s those paying that dictate.

[Pvapour]

Those with bigger batteries wanting to stay for less time plug in to the rapids i guess.

There isnt a single retail outlet in the uk where people visit more often than a tesco so cant think of a better place to start with, sure there will be other places that will follow suit that will suit some better but nowhere in the uk is there a better place for such a large roll out imo.

[Heres Johnny]

They’re all doing it, Asda and Waitrose have had infrastructure for a long time (3 years or more) just on a smaller scale. Tesla had superchargers at some Sainsbury’s and have since taken them out. I’m not sure why the frequency of visits matter?

Investment is welcome, it’s just I wish they were somewhere I travel to and not somewhere I could cycle to.

[caseys]

All for it. Maybe VW drivers will get a better rate with the rapids.

The Sainsbury’s near my work use to have 2 super chargers installed. I was told they were taken out because when both were in use they were drawing more power than the whole supermarket

Now it’s got 4x 11Kw free Pod-Point chargers which you can’t complain at. Go there for a shop, coffee in the coffee shop and you’ve got 40-50 miles of driving thrown in.

[raspy]

I've got mixed emotions about this news. Unless accompanied by better enforcement of charging points, I'm not sure it will help.

I say this because at supermarkets and public car parks, I'm finding more charging points taken up by PHEVs and EVs that are not plugged in to charge, but simply parked because it's an good space to park/close to entrance.

[Smiljan]

Hopefully they’ll be far away from the doors so the usual suspects don’t just block them because they’re lazy.

I think it’s a great step so long as the cost to charge remains free and the bays are policed to prevent ICE cars parking in them. Many Tesco’s are near to residential areas so this should give more chargers to access for those who can’t charge at home.

4 or 5 chargers per store is a good start, Pod Point have decent reliability and app control / payment too. I’d love them to go one step further and commit to fitting at least one Rapid charging station with CCS and Chadaemo at each Superstore location.

Edited by Smiljan on Friday 30th November 09:09

[Heres Johnny]

caseys said:

All for it. Maybe VW drivers will get a better rate with the rapids.

The Sainsbury’s near my work use to have 2 super chargers installed. I was told they were taken out because when both were in use they were drawing more power than the whole supermarket

Now it’s got 4x 11Kw free Pod-Point chargers which you can’t complain at. Go there for a shop, coffee in the coffee shop and you’ve got 40-50 miles of driving thrown in.

I heard they were taken out because locals used them constantly to get a free charge while shopping preventing the utility to those genuinely travelling in the area needing them. It wasn’t beneficial to either company.

[TransverseTight]

I'm not happy I'm driving a Passat GTE estate with circa 23 miles EV range as my last car was an i3 with min 65 mile range, but 3 kids and a business need to carry lots of computer kit made it my best option. The chance to plug in everywhere I park is what the whole UK needs considering cars spend over 90% of their time stationary. I won't knock any company that puts in chargers and ill willingly pay upto the cost of unleaded per mile to use them, because as an part time asthma sufferer know that it's only when i live in cities i get Asthma.

[essayer]

bit more detail:

https://pod-point.com/electric-car-news/tesco-volk...

Guessing no AC rapid charging, sorry ZOE owners

Free 7kW is good, but I won't rely on it. Plenty of freeloaders out there who'd prefer to spend 2 hrs a day at Tesco to save ~£2 off their electricity bill.