Lidl’s new stores to feature electric car charging stations

DUBLIN, Ireland - Leading German supermarket chain, Lidl, is set to unveil a brand new feature at some of its stores across Ireland.

In a move aimed at making its business operations more sustainable, the German discounter has announced that it will be introducing electric car charging points at its soon-to-be-launched stores across Ireland.

Lidl, which currently boasts of 11.9 percent of the Irish grocery market share, has announced that it will install 40 electric car charging points at 20 of its stores across the country. 

The company said that the Free Oc service will be made available at the new and over the the next six months.

Commenting on the new service, Director of property and central services at Lidl Ireland, Alan Barry, said, “Business must act responsibly, and Lidl will lead the way by installing electric vehicle chargers in all new store builds and investing over 150,000 euros in our electric vehicle charging programme.”

Lidl pointed out that, so far, it has installed charging points at its stores in Rathfarnham and Swords, Co Dublin, and Drogheda, Co Louth.

Barry explained that the electric vehicle charging point at its Drogheda store provides 100 km of driving range per charge and is currently charging over 4,000 km a week.

Further, the company said that over the next few months, it will retrofit the technology to its stores in Cabra, Tallaght, Glenageary, East Wall, Gorey, Wilton, Virginia, Magherafelt, Lurgan and Andersonstown.

Welcoming the announcement, CEO of the Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland, Jim Gannon said, “Initiatives such as this will help to provide confidence in the charging network and ensure that there are sufficient charging locations available for a growing number of electric vehicle users.”

Lidl’s announcement comes at a time when AA Ireland’s latest research has revealed that almost a third of Irish motorists are open to purchasing an electric vehicle when they next change their car.

Introduction of the new service at its stores in the country will make Lidl the largest network of electric vehicle charges in the Irish supermarket sector.