Dobbies Garden Centres is to launch electric vehicle (EV) charging points across its UK store estate in 2022.
A partnership with sustainable energy business, Gridserve, will place 30 ‘Destination Electric Hubs’ at Dobbies locations, providing shoppers, commuters and local residents an opportunity to access EV charging from the retailer’s car parks.
Each Dobbies destination – stretching from Aberdeen in the north of Scotland to Ashford in the south-east of England – will offer up to 12 high power EV charging points with connectors that support all types of electric vehicles, according to the retailer.
The EV charging units will accept contactless payment, provide real-time usage updates to both the Gridserve map and Zap-Map, and – according to the retailer and energy company – will be powered only by net zero carbon energy.
Graeme Jenkins, CEO at Dobbies, said: “As we build on the #SustainableDobbies journey, the partnership with Gridserve demonstrates our ongoing commitment to providing our customers with environmentally-friendly solutions.
“We are proud to be the first garden centre retailer to work with this forward-thinking and innovative company and we look forward to welcoming electric vehicle drivers as we roll out this service across the UK throughout 2022.”
Toddington Harper, CEO of Gridserve, commented: “Not only do Dobbies share our long-term commitment to sustainability, their support will help raise both the viability and visibility of electric vehicles and EV charging to new audiences.
“To protect the environment and address climate change the government has committed to banning the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles in only eight years, and this has helped put EV sales on an exponential growth trajectory.”
The EV charging roll-out at Dobbies will begin in spring 2022.
Alongside John Lewis Partnership, Dobbies was the first retailer to officially support Prince Charles’ Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Terra Carta green business initiative earlier this year.
[Image credit: Green Retail World]
