EG Group – owned by the billionaire owners of Asda, Mohsin and Zuber Issa – has signed a multimillion-pound deal with Tesla to roll out ultra-fast EV charging points across the UK and Europe.
The new electric vehicle chargers, which are said to be able to being able to charge about 80% of a car’s battery within around 20 minutes, will be placed in thousands of sites across the group’s petrol station empire, under the ‘evpoint’ branding.
While leveraging Tesla’s industry-leading technology, the chargers will operate on an ‘open network’, meaning that all drivers will be able to use them regardless of the brand of vehicle they drive.
More than 20,000 chargers will be put in place across 3,600 EG Group sites, with opportunities across third party locations also being considered for the future.
Earlier this year, sister company Asda bought around 356 EG Group forecourts, which will be included in the roll out.
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EG Group founder and co-CEO Zuber Issa said the deal would deal “accelerate the delivery of vital charging infrastructure for motorists to help power the transition to net zero”.
“Securing this best-in-class equipment from Tesla marks another milestone for evpoint and is hugely exciting for us,” he said, adding that the Tesla deal is the first of its kind and will “transform” how EG Group customers charge their vehicles.
EG Group chief strategy and business officer Imraan Patel, added: “Our aim is to deliver a three-pronged strategy to help us reach our energy transition goals.
“These include EV charging, supporting alternative forms of vehicular fuel and broader carbon reduction, all of which are central to our strategy of helping the world transition to a lower carbon future.”
Tesla’s senior director of charging infrastructure Rebecca Tinucci said the deal to introduce reliable, easy-to-use EV charging infrastructure is “the right step towards a sustainable future”; a key area of focus for Tesla.
The first of the new units are expected to be operational before the end of the year.
