Can Tesco charge electric cars for free?
Tesco did offer free 7KW charging for electric cars in the early days. But from November 1, 2022, Tesco Supermarkets stopped charging for free, no matter how many kw. therefore, Tesco electric cars cannot be charged for free. Tesco plc has said that Tesco has already provided 86 million miles of range to electric cars for free over a three-year period (2019-2022), which is a matter of great pride.
How much does it cost Tesco to charge electric cars?
Tesco Supermarkets have been increasing the cost of charging their electric cars since they removed free charging for electric cars in 2022. Last year (2023) it cost Tesco just 28p/kWh to charge a 7kW car and 40p for a 22kw, by this year (2024) the cost has risen to 44p/kWh for a 7kw and 49p for a 22kw. Here are the charging costs for Tesco electric cars:
Tesco EV charging cost tables:
| Type of Pod Point EV charger at Tesco | Tesco EV charging cost per kWh |
| 7kW slow chargers | 44p |
| 22kW fast chargers | 49p |
| 50kW rapid chargers | 62p |
| 75kW rapid chargers | 69p |
It's worth noting that there are thousands of Tesco supermarkets in the UK, but not all of them offer the 4 different types of chargers mentioned above. For example, some only offer 7kw charging stations, while others don't even have any. We need to plan ahead when choosing Tesco as a place to charge.
When can I go to a Tesco EV charging station to charge?
Whenever you want. It is open 24 hours a day.
How do I find a Tesco EV charger near me?
There are many ways to find a Tesco EV charger, the easiest and most effective way is to turn on your phone's location and then search for a Tesco charging station on Google Maps. We can also use dedicated EV charging apps such as PlugShare and Pod Point to find Tesco charging stations.
Of course, these methods are dependent on the service provider's updates, so sometimes the information may not be synchronized. The most cumbersome but least error-prone method is to find a location on Tesco's website.
Can anyone use a Tesco charging station?
Although the company advertises that it's for customer use only, the truth is that anyone can use a Tesco charging station to charge an electric car. One thing you should be aware of is Tesco's 'three hour free parking policy'.
If you're fined for taking too long to park and charge, it's not worth it. Either way, three hours is more than enough time to fully charge an electric car, especially now that most electric cars support high-powered fast charging.
How do I use a Tesco charging station?
The first thing you need to determine is whether the vehicle matches the type of output of the charging station. If your car only supports 7kw, then you should prioritize a 7kw charging station, as that will be cheaper. Secondly, charging stations are specifically designed for electric cars, so cars that use petrol or diesel are not suitable either.
Typically most of the Tesco's electric stations offer 15 minutes free charging, at which point you don't need to provide anything. But after 15 minutes, payment must be arranged using Pod Point's app to continue charging. Otherwise the charging will be automatically switched off after 15 minutes.
When you've finished the charging process, simply unlock the car and plug the charging cable back into the charging post to finish everything off.
