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Daily Record
Daily Record
Lifestyle
Rachel Pugh & Christopher Harper & Jacob Rawley

Tesco shoppers threaten boycott as supermarket begins charging for car service

Some motorists have vowed to never shop at Tesco after the supermarket introduced a 28p charging fee for electric vehicles.

Until recently, topping up at Tesco was free. Charging stations have been fitted by PodPoint at locations across the UK, including many in Scotland such as Barrhead, Paisley, Stirling and Inverness among others.

With electricity prices in the UK continuing to soar, some customers considered the free charging an incentive to shop at Tesco's over its competitors.

However, as reported by the Manchester Evening News, electric vehicle drivers were not pleased by the announcement and are now planning to shop elsewhere.

PodPoint Released a statement which says that the 28p charge will be among the cheaper fees that are publicly available and will be used to improve Tesco's charging network.

"The new tariffs are some of the most competitive in the market and will enable us to continue investing in our network," said the charging station provider.

The charging ports were previously free to use (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

"It's hoped that by making these changes customers will only top up when they need to, ensuring that they make way for others once their cars are charged."

However, one Twitter user said: "@Tesco absolutely disgusting that you (Tesco) are going to charge for electric car charging. I’m never shopping at Tesco again. I’m done!!!!!"

And on deal-saving site HotUKDeals, one shopper said: "I was using the free charging as an incentive to shop at Tesco, the only supermarket around my way to offer free charging. Now I'll spread my wings a bit and shop at other places too.

"Home charging is cheaper for me so won't be using the Tesco chargers from now even when I'm there. Was good whilst it lasted."

A Tesco spokesperson told Birmingham Live : "We've provided more than 86 million miles worth of free charging for customers to date, and our new great value tariffs will build on this with some of the most competitive rates in the market.

"These changes will improve access to chargers for all our customers, and enable continued investment in our charging network across the UK."

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