With the expected surge in popularity of electric vehicles in 2011, due to the introduction of the government £5,000 subsidy, Waitrose is installing charging stations at some of its key stores. Chargemaster Plc, the UK’s leading provider of electric vehicle charging stations, has been chosen by Waitrose to install DualCharge posts at three stores across the UK. The charging stations are able to charge two bays at the same time and will provide customers with the facility to re-charge their electric vehicles whilst they are shopping in the store.

One of the electric vehicle chargers has been installed at one of its newest stores - York, which is Waitrose’s flagship store for embracing carbon cutting initiatives. York is the first Waitrose store to offer charging points and this supports Waitrose’s ‘green travel plan’ initiative. The initiative intends to encourage customers to utilise greener transport alternatives; whether that is through using an electric car, a bicycle or public transport. The other charging stations will be installed at stores around the country, where customer demand is high.

Don Finn, concessions manager at Waitrose, said: “The rise in electric vehicle ownership is something we cannot ignore. We want to ensure that we not only provide valuable services to our customers by installing the charging points, but that we look at ways to reduce carbon emissions and pollution that benefit the whole community.”

Waitrose will be measuring electricity consumed through the charging points using Chargemaster’s advanced management and reporting system – Chargevision. This will be evaluated against cost and overall carbon emissions from power supply. If proven to benefit the customer, the environment and the company’s carbon footprint, electric charging stations will be rolled out across other stores.

Finn, adds: “We chose Chargemaster as our partner in this programme, as they not only demonstrated professionalism and commitment to our campaign from delivery to on-going support - but with its unique reporting functionality we can accurately measure the advantages of installing a network of charging stations across the stores. Waitrose prides itself on providing quality, relevant products and services that are based on factual information and research.”

Chargemaster has already installed the DualCharge post at the York store and will be installing the other posts located at sites in London and the South over the next three months.

David Martell, chief executive at Chargemaster Plc, comments: “We are very proud to have been chosen by Waitrose as its electric vehicle charging station provider. Our team has worked closely with the retailer to ensure that we provide the latest technology and a sophisticated management reporting system that truly supports its requirements. We are confident providing the charging facilities for electric vehicle owners will be beneficial to Waitrose and its customers and that our partnership will continue to develop.”

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