Greene King strikes charge point deal for pub estate

Greene King is rolling out electric vehicle (EV) charge points in all suitable sites across its 2,700 managed and tenanted pubs thanks to a deal struck with Drive Energi and Raw Charging. 

The partnership with Drive Energi, extending through to 2040, will see it install, own and operate Tritium 50kW rapid charge points at 300 locations.

It will create one of the UK’s largest retail located rapid charging networks, with the first locations to go live in the north west before the end of 2020. 

The contactless payment enabled, Tritium 50kW DC charge points will be powered by renewable energy and available to use via a pay as you go tariff, with no subscription required. 

In addition to partnering with Drive Energi, Greene King has also chosen Raw Charging to install charge points during the initial phase, which it will run, own and operate. The ChargePoint charging solutions will be rolled out across 900 of their managed pubs in the next 18 months.  

The Churchill, in Royal Wootton Bassett, marked the launch of this Greene King network rollout, where four ChargePoint 22kW AC charging points were installed in early August and are already available for customer use (see below).

Chris Burghardt, MD for Europe at ChargePoint, said: “This partnership represents a critical step closer to the democratisation of EV fuelling, by bringing electric vehicle charging to towns and villages that have so far been missed off the map of the electric revolution.

“Needless to say we are very excited to be supporting Raw Charging on this journey with Greene King and are proud to be spearheading the move to the electrification of the UK’s transport.” 

Bruce Galliford, CEO of Raw Charging, a partner of Silicon Valley-based EV technology provider ChargePoint, added: “In committing to host our reliable, easy-to-use, and fully contactless-payment enabled EV charging points, Greene King and its portfolio of prestigious pubs and hotels remain anchored at the heart of the local communities in which people live and work, by providing a crucial EV charging service 24 hours a day.”

ChargePoint will be installing the CP4000 and CPE250 rapid charger, which will be available to drivers through the ChargePoint mobile app. 

CEO of Drive Energi, James Moat, said the deal was a "significant milestone" for Drive Energi.

"We are proud to be working in partnership with Greene King on this exciting project as the UK’s EV charging sector will play major role in leading a green recovery post-Covid-19," he continued. 

“We are committed to the roll-out of accessible public charging across the UK and drivers can expect to charge from over 300 Drive Energi locations by the end of 2021.”

Tony Hodgson, head of estates at Greene King, concluded: “We’ve been working hard developing our sustainability plans as we continue to build a greener business.

“With more people buying electric cars in a bid to be more environmentally friendly, we want to support our customers who come to dine or stay with us by offering electric charging ports in our pubs that are able to do so.”