Sainsbury’s Smart Charge partners with Allstar for EV roaming.

Allstar customers can now use their Chargepass to pay for EV charging at Sainsbury’s in a groundbreaking new partnership. Sainsbury’s has selected Allstar as its first business roaming partner for the Smart Charge ultra-rapid EV charging service, launched at the beginning of 2024.

This collaboration allows Allstar customers to charge their vehicles at 58 EV hubs located in Sainsbury’s stores across the country, with plans for expansion in the future. Customers also have the added benefit of collecting Nectar points with each charge at Smart Charge and, for a limited time until 25th October, will receive 10x Nectar points for their first use.

Sainsbury’s 150kW chargers enable users to fully charge their EV in as little as 30 minutes, and the charging stations are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Recent research commissioned by Sainsbury’s revealed that 80% of EV users avoid long journeys due to concerns about public charging stations, citing issues such as broken chargers, insufficient charging bays, and slow service. Despite these challenges, data from Allstar shows a significant increase in business use of public and home charging, with a 264% rise in public charge use by Allstar customers compared to the previous year.

This new partnership between Allstar and Sainsbury’s builds on a longstanding 20-year relationship in fuel services but now extends to the realm of electric vehicle charging. Drivers can now recharge their vehicles using the latest technology and equipment, all powered by 100% renewable electricity sourced from Sainsbury’s estates.

Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury’s director of property, procurement & EV ventures, expressed his enthusiasm for the collaboration by stating, “This is a critical next step in our ambition to make EV charging simple and accessible to all, giving a whole new sector of EV fleet drivers easy access to our network of over 475 bays at more than 58 locations across the country.”

Paul Holland, managing director for UK/ANZ Fleet at Allstar’s parent company Corpay, noted the rising trend of public charging use and the growing adoption of electric vehicles by businesses. He highlighted the importance of partnerships like the one with Sainsbury’s Smart Charge to create a fast, convenient, and accessible EV charging infrastructure for all drivers in the nation.