Asda and Engie roll out EV charging points at stores in West Yorkshire

Asda will provide customers with free to use electric vehicle (EV) charging points in some of its West Yorkshire stores thanks to a new partnership with Engie.

Customers will have 24/7 access to the free charging points across 19 stores including Bradford, Killingbeck, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Middleton, Asda’s sustainability store, rolling out over the next 12 weeks.

Supplying 100% renewable energy from Engie, the rapid charge points give customers 160 miles of driving* on average and will be free to use until October 29th this year, when customers will begin to pay for their charge.

The chargers can be located by ENGIE’s web-app and are part of a wider launch of EV charging points across West Yorkshire. After securing almost £2 million of funding from the Government’s Office of Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) in 2019, West Yorkshire Combined Authority appointed ENGIE to install and operate at least 88 rapid charging points across the region. Each charging point includes one bay for taxis and private hire vehicles and one bay for all other users.

John Mutton, Asda’s Senior Asset Manager said:

“We know that our customers and colleagues are always looking for ways to live more sustainably and we want to continue to help them do that with ease, which is why I’m really pleased we’ve made it convenient for them to access charging points so they can plug in whilst they shop.
With thanks to our partner ENGIE, customers will see these charging points installed in some of our carparks over the coming weeks and we hope that by making them easily accessible, it will encourage more drivers to look at greener vehicles in the future and support a reduction in carbon emissions.”

Jerry Moloney, Managing Director for ENGIE’s Futures business said:
“We are very pleased that in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, we have already installed over 70 rapid electric vehicle chargers and have begun the installation of a further 19 charging points at Asda stores within the West Yorkshire region.
The provision of rapid electric vehicle charging facilities at Asda stores offers customers a reliable and convenient way to charge whilst they visit the store. The ENGIE network charging points will be completely free to use until October 2021, in the hope that this will encourage more people to make the switch to EV.
This is an exciting step towards improving air quality across West Yorkshire and ultimately supporting the UK’s goals to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

Cllr Kim Groves, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, said:
“The 19 electric vehicle charging points installed at ASDA stores throughout the region form part of our commitment to install at least 88 charging points across West Yorkshire by the end of this summer to improve air quality and help people to change to electric vehicles.
Our partnership with ENGIE is part of our drive to dramatically reduce emissions from transport as we make West Yorkshire a net-zero carbon economy by 2038.”
The move is part of Asda’s sustainable business strategy, which was set out in the retailer’s first Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, launched last month.
As part of the strategy, which aims to offer customers more sustainable choices every day, Asda has committed to Becoming a net zero carbon business by 2040 – a journey that includes reducing Green House Gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 50% by 2025.

ENDS

**Based on Nissan Leaf 2019 with 40kw battery, charging time from 20% to 80% using the 50kWh DC connector, see https://www-europe.nissan-cdn.net/content/dam/Nissan/gb/brochures/Vehicles/Nissan_Leaf_UK.pdf
If using the 22kW hour AC connector, this typically provides around 21 miles per charging hour. Based on Nissan Leaf 2019 with 40kW battery and 6.6kW on board charger, see https://ev-database.uk/car/1106/Nissan-Leaf#charge-table

About ENGIE

ENGIE is a leading energy and services company focused on three key activities: production and supply of energy, facilities management and regeneration. Our 17,000 employees combine these capabilities for the benefit of individuals, businesses and communities throughout the UK & Ireland.
We enable customers to embrace a lower carbon, more efficient and increasingly digital world. Our customers benefit from our energy efficient and smart building solutions, the provision of effective and innovative services, the transformation of neighbourhoods through regeneration projects, and the supply of reliable, flexible and renewable energy.
ENGIE improves lives through better living and working environments. We help to balance performance with responsibility, enabling progress in a harmonious way.
Our specialist EV charging infrastructure team, ENGIE EV Solutions, provides integrated electric vehicle charging solutions for end-to-end technology for public, workplace and private sector EV charging.

About the West Yorkshire Combined Authority
We work in partnership with local councils, businesses, and the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to ensure that everyone in our region benefits from a strong, successful economy and a modern, accessible transport network. By championing the region’s interests nationally and internationally, we secure the investment to deliver better transport and housing, help businesses to grow and create jobs.
We have a bold ambition to make West Yorkshire the UK’s first net-zero carbon economy by 2038, with significant progress made by 2030. To date, the measures we have delivered have contributed to an overall 38% reduction in carbon emissions in the City Region since 2005, compared to 27% nationally. Our region’s energy infrastructure generates around 30% of UK electricity from renewable sources.
Since 2015, 5,470 energy efficiency measures have been installed in 5,200 homes across the Leeds City Region, which will reduce CO2 emissions by 192,000 tonnes and result in collective fuel bill savings of £47.5 million over the lifetime of the measures.
We are working to ensure that delivering a net-zero economy is integral to the region’s economic recovery from COVID-19.
For more information visit www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk