German wholesaler Metro has added 62 new electric vehicle charging stations in its Düsseldorf outlet for employees, guests, and customers.
The new additions take the total number of charging points in the outlet to 80.
The service is free of charge and eight charging stations will be available to customers round the clock, Metro said in its statement.
Corporate partnerships director at The Climate Group, Mike Peirce, said, "By offering free charging at its stores, our EV100 member Metro provides an added service for its customers while they shop and increases the visibility of EV charging across German cities – showing how businesses can boost awareness and market growth of clean vehicles."
'Sustainable Mobility'
The move is a part of the wholesaler's goal to promote 'sustainable mobility' and achieve its target of reducing greenhouse emissions in its selling and delivery space by half, by 2030.
Christof Knop, managing director of Metro Deutschland GmbH, added, "Another decisive element is also to sustainably improve the quality of life and the air quality in urban regions."
Speaking at the inauguration, the State Secretary, Christoph Dammermann, said, "The state government sees the extension of the charging network as an important contribution to supporting the further deployment of e-mobility."
"Employee parking spaces are particularly suited for charging points in view of the long vehicle downtimes because car users can [charge] their vehicles while on the job without losing time," he explained.
The Facility
The retailer has invested around €400,000 in installing these new stations in the multi-storey car park.
The car park has been equipped with a separate 1000 KW transformer station and new cabling to guarantee an uninterrupted and reliable charging facility for electric vehicles.
Vehicles will take about 3 - 4 hours to recharge in these 22 kilowatts charging stations.
Eight of the 62 charging stations have been provided to the wholesaler by Tesla.
At the launch, electric vehicles from Tesla, BMW, and Volkswagen were available for a test drive.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
