Supermarket giant Asda has switched off the majority of its electric vehicle charging points, with more than 100 shut in the last year.
Data from the RAC found that Asda was the only major supermarket to cut down on the number of charging devices in 2023.
In 2022, there were 165 chargers at Asda locations around the UK. However, only 46 remained online at the end of 2023.
This represents a 72 per cent drop from the number of chargers in 2022 and an 81 per cent drop in the number of installed chargers since 2021.
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Asda removed the majority of its EV chargers over the last year
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It now has just 46 electric vehicle chargers at 22 stores covering just two per cent of the total number of their stores.
The move has generally been put down to the end of the partnership between bp pulse and the supermarket chain in 2023.
The subsidiary of oil giant BP manages 3,513 EV chargers across the UK, making it the fourth largest charge point operator.
It also has the third largest market share of rapid and ultra-rapid chargers, falling just behind InstaVolt and Tesla Supercharger, with 1,225 devices.
An Asda spokesperson told the PA news agency: “Our operating agreement with bp pulse came to an end in October last year.
“These EV charging points remain on site with clear signage to indicate to customers that the equipment is currently not in use, whilst we review our options.”
According to the latest data from Zapmap, there are 57,290 electric vehicle charging stations across the UK with 32,575 different locations.
This represents a 47 per cent increase in the number of chargers since February 2023, with almost 2,000 new chargers installed last month.
In November, the owners of Asda unveiled their intentions to buy Tesla’s ultra-fast EV charging units, with EG Group saying they would be branded as “evpoint”.
The company said it aims to boost the number of chargers it operates from 600 to over 20,000, with owners Zuber and Mohsin Issa supporting the move.
The RAC research found that all other major supermarkets had increased the number of EV chargers at their sites with a 59 per cent jump.
Tesco remains the leader in EV-friendly facilities with 1,305 chargers, followed by 413 chargers at Morrisons supermarkets, 346 at Lidl and 199 at Aldi and Waitrose.
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Tesco has the most EV chargers of any supermarket
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Thanks to its partnership with PodPoint, Tesco has been able to add almost 500 chargers to its stores over the last year, with the number of Tesco sites also increasing by 50 per cent year-on-year.
Simon Williams, electric vehicle spokesperson for the RAC, said: “It’s very encouraging to see supermarkets doing their best to allay these fears by ramping up EV charging facilities across a greater proportion of their estates.
“As the supermarkets currently dominate UK fuel sales, it makes sense for them to try to retain as much of that market as they can by catering to the needs of all EV drivers looking to recharge as quickly as possible.”