Electric car drivers could save themselves £798 and fuel a quarter of their annual miles for free using a simple supermarket trick. According to Zap-Map’s latest figures, there are 3,961 free public charging points across the UK, with the lion’s share (almost 600) found in public car parks.
Sainsbury’s, Lidl, and Aldi are offering shoppers free fast charging at rates of up to 22kW. However only a handful of EVs are capable of 22kW AC charging, so Vanarama’s figures are calculated using the 11kW rate that’s compatible with the majority of EVs.
At that rate, charging during your weekly shop (lasting 41 minutes on average) would add 34 cost-free miles to your EV’s battery each time. Across the year that is 1,742 miles of charge from simply plugging in at a free supermarket charge point. That’s a quarter of the average UK driver’s yearly miles (6,800 miles), meaning you could effectively drive for free for three months of the year.
Vanarama’s research also calculated the cost of electricity that drivers are saving by not charging at home, based on the current electricity price of 34p per kWh.
Over the year it’s £133.02 in savings – or £798.15 across car ownership (estimated at six years). Not a bad result for savings that can be made with no extra effort.
