UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's is installing electric car charging systems at 11 of its London supermarkets. The retailer intends to give away charging services to customers.
Sainsbury's aims to help turn London into an "electric vehicle superhighway," said Neil Sachdev, Sainsbury's Commercial Director.
Sainsbury's claims to already be one of the UK's largest users of electric vehicles, according to a press release.
"We hope that this initiative will encourage more of our customers to follow our lead," Sachdev said.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, hailed the development as putting half of London's population within three miles of a charge point.
"I want to turn London into the electric vehicle capital of Europe. Central to this aim is the provision of charge points across the capital to ensure Londoners can go electric with the confidence that they can charge up where ever they are," Johnson said.
Earlier this year Sainsbury's unveiled a series of kinetic road plates at a store. As drivers enter the store's parking lot, pushing down the road plates, enough electricity is generated to help power some features of the store.
Also earlier this year, Sainsbury’s announced its plan to divert all UK food waste away from landfill to a biomass plant.