Tesco makes major change to Clubcards… and it's a huge win for millions of drivers
TESCO has announced a major Clubcard change — a big win for millions of drivers.
Electric car owners can now earn loyalty points when charging their vehicles at the popular supermarket chain from today.
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Clubcard members will now earn one point for every £1 spent charging at Pod Point's Vauxhall-branded chargers at Tesco stores.
Tesco says the move is part of its latest partnership with tech provider Pod Point.
EV drivers could also bag a whopping 2,500 Clubcard points by subscribing to Pod Point's all-inclusive home charging plan.
Charging bays are available at over 600 Tesco car parks across the UK.
Shama Wilson, Tesco's group membership and loyalty director, said: "You can now park at your local Tesco and top up your electric vehicle while you shop, in the knowledge that you are collecting Clubcard points towards a future Tesco shop or to exchange with one of our reward partners."
"We're thrilled to deepen our long-standing partnership with Tesco and provide an incentive for Clubcard members to make the switch to an EV and join over a quarter of a million customers that trust Pod with their changing needs," Pod CEO Melanie Lane added.
It comes after the supermarket giant revealed that it had hit 500,000 charges – providing more than 10 million miles of complimentary carbon neutral motoring.
Tesco, in partnership with Volkswagen and Pod Point, is installing free charging points at 600 supermarkets around the UK as part of their commitment to improving electric car charging infrastructure.
The partnership has now provided its 500,000th free top-up – and during this period three million kWh of free, carbon neutral electricity has been given out.
This is enough power to drive a new all-electric Volkswagen ID.4 SUV around 10.4 million miles.
You can now charge your electric car for FREE at Tesco with Volkswagen and Pod Point
Based on the average new petrol or diesel car sold in the UK, the scheme has reduced carbon emissions by approximately 2,120 tonnes - the same as more than 2,770 acres of forest will manage in a year.
The announcement was welcomed by Transport Secretary and EV owner Grant Shapps, who said: 'As we accelerate towards a cleaner and greener transport future, it's great to see one of Britain's most iconic household names leading the way with electric vehicle chargepoints.
'In the time it takes to pick up the groceries, drivers up and down the country can now quickly and easily charge their cars and with £2.5bn of government support to encourage their take-up, there has never been a better time to switch to an EV.'
The Tesco Extra in Slough has been the busiest supermarket for free charging - with the sockets used more than 10,000 times.
It finished ahead of Tesco supermarkets in Stourbridge, Crawley, Altrincham and Bromley by Bow in the top five.
Making up the rest of the top 10 were the Tesco supermarkets in Watford, Orpington, Elmers End, Havant and Lichfield.
Director of Volkswagen, Andrew Savvas, said: 'Our partnership with Tesco and Pod Point emphasises our commitment to carbon neutral mobility for all and we're delighted to have reached this milestone - helping owners of all electric car brands top up with free renewable energy while they're doing their grocery shop.'
Tony Hoggett, chief operating officer at Tesco, said: 'We are committed to reducing carbon emissions in all our operations and aim to be carbon neutral in the UK 2035.
'As part of this we want to encourage our customers to play their part with the rollout of free-to-use EV chargers to 600 of our stores.
'Providing customers with charging points offers them a sustainable choice and giving them the opportunity to charge their car for free while they shop is a little help to make this easier.'
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