Petrol station giant to strike major deal with Tesla to add electric car chargers to forecourts
The owners of Asda are looking to secure a deal with Tesla
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The owners of Asda have pledged to buy Tesla’s ultra-fast electric charging units to help roll out its zero emission vehicle charging network.
EG Group, which is run by the owners of Asda, said the chargers would be branded as “evpoint" and will be available to all electric car owners.
The petrol station giant, which is owned by Mohsin and Zuber Issa, announced its intention to purchase the popular Tesla Superchargers earlier today.
Tesla Superchargers can recharge up to 172 miles of range in just 15 minutes, with the brand having more than 50,000 devices around the world.
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EG Group said it would look to expand the charging network from over 600 chargers at present to more than 20,000 over time.
Zuber Issa founded EG Group with his brother Mohsin in 2001, with annual sales across 10 countries being valued at £17.4billion in 2020.
Commenting on the new deal, he said: “Securing this best-in-class equipment from Tesla marks another milestone for evpoint and is hugely exciting for us.
“It is the first deal of its kind entered into by Tesla with a third-party charge point operator in Europe and will transform how our customers charge their vehicles and how they interact with EG.
“Since installing our first EV charger back in 2012, we have continued to invest in the technology.
“This deal will accelerate the delivery of vital charging infrastructure for motorists to help power the transition to net zero.”
According to Zapmap data, there are more than 51,500 electric vehicle charging points across 30,360 different locations around the UK.
There are 853 registered Tesla Destination chargers around the UK, making up 1.7 per cent of the total market share, with a further 792 Tesla-only Superchargers across the country.
While the Tesla-only Superchargers only make up 1.5 per cent of the total network, they make up 8.2 per cent of the market share of rapid and ultra-rapid chargers.
This makes it the third largest rapid and ultra-rapid charging brand behind only InstaVolt and bp pulse.
Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla’s senior director of charging infrastructure, said: “The rapid installation of reliable, easy-to-use EV charging infrastructure is the right step towards a sustainable future and a key area of focus for us at Tesla.
“For this reason, we’re excited to make our fast-charging hardware available for purchase to EG Group and other leaders in the space.”
The Issa brothers agreed to buy supermarket giant Asda in 2021 for around £6.8billion, with more than 600 stores around the UK.
There are more than 320 Asda petrol stations, with the “Big 4” retailer becoming the first supermarket to publish its petrol and diesel prices online.
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EG Group will look to expand its own charging network with the Tesla Superchargers
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This was done in response to criticism from motoring organisations and drivers that retailers were not being transparent enough with fuel prices, with it having an unfair impact on drivers.