Triodos Bank U.K. has provided financing to support the development of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure with a loan to Pod Point, one of the U.K.’s largest providers of EV charging.
Alongside funding from Tesco and Volkswagen, the debt facility will help hundreds of EV charge points to be supplied, operated and maintained by Pod Point at 600 Tesco stores. The new points will include 7 kW media chargers capable of displaying advertising on a screen, from which customers will be able to charge for free. Some sites will also have 50 kW rapid chargers priced in line with market rates.
The Pod Point partnership with Tesco and Volkswagen, announced in 2018, effectively created a new, sponsorship-based business model for EV charging. Tesco itself has set a goal to increase its business-wide energy sourcing from 65% renewables in 2020 to 100% in 2030.
“Given our focus on sustainable and responsible finance, it is fundamental to Triodos to support projects, such as charging infrastructure for EVs, which help us transition to a low-carbon, clean future,” says Philip Bazin, head of the environment team at Triodos Bank U.K.
“The transport sector now has the highest greenhouse gas emissions of any industry in the U.K., with passenger car road transport accounting for over 50% of these emissions. We need the vision and capabilities of pioneering companies like Pod Point and mainstream businesses like Tesco wanting to deliver the change in our transport infrastructure that we need to see,” he adds.