
The new venture will see some 2,500 charging bays installed at up to 600 stores over the next three years.
“We’re putting our money where our mouth is – it’s a big revolution…involving the biggest fuel retailer and the biggest vehicle manufacturer. It’s a good partnership.” – Mike Orford, VolkswagenTesco and VW say their new venture will foster impact in terms of more choices about where people can charge their electric cars, claiming it would increase the availability of charging points in the UK by up to 14%. For many consumers, using an electric car would appeal to their morals. Yet a high number of potential owners may hold back from making the purchase due to fears over lack of availability in terms of charging stations. After all, no one wants to be stranded on a motorway when their battery goes flat. But, as with all major companies, this new project has been devised to keep up with the competition as well as fulfilling corporate social responsibility (CSR) quotas. How do we know this? Because BP is doing the same thing…
“We need high-quality infrastructure in place to support ultra-low emission vehicles around the country.” –Jesse Norman, transport ministerChances are that a lot of other big car firms will follow the lead of Tesco and VW and will also partner with petrol brands and supermarkets with these facilities to expand the presence of electric charging hubs for cars. This is part of the change the car industry is experiencing as a whole, where manufacturers are shifting their focus to developing electric vehicles as the public grow increasingly tired of the expenses of fossil fuel consumption as well as its negative impact on the environment. The government has even announced its intention to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles to help combat the pollution problem. Yet, whilst the sales of electric vehicles has never been so popular, (hitting 100,000 sales for the first time this year), diesel cars still sell five times as well as electric or hybrid cars. Despite the galvanisation of public opinion regarding the dangers of fossil fuel emissions, new petrol based car sales are up by 9% this year, meaning that fossil fuel powered cars continue to dominate the consumer car market, at least for now. But perhaps if more multinational companies used the funds at their disposal to implement more electric charging hubs, this could change…
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