Doing your supermarket shopping while charging your electric car just got easier thanks to an expansion of the Foodstuffs and ChargeNet partnership.

Foodstuffs, the locally owned and operated co-operatives behind New World, Pak ’n Save and Four Square and ChargeNet, New Zealand's only nationwide electric vehicle charging network, have announced plans to build at least 80 new EV-charging sites at Foodstuffs supermarkets across the country over the next four years.

ChargeNet began working with Foodstuffs in 2015, installing charging sites at the co-operative's Pak ’n Save and New World stores, which currently offer customers access to 128 ChargeNet charging points around New Zealand. 

To date, the charging points have provided more than 7,731 MWh of energy to customers, enough power for an EV to circumnavigate the earth 850 times. 

Foodstuffs NZ’s Head of Environmental Social Governance, Sandy Botterill, says the partnership reinforces its commitment to providing customers with accessible and convenient charging options.

“Our customers are telling us they like the convenience that comes from being able to charge their electric vehicles while doing their shopping, ticking two items off the to-do list in a single trip,” said Botterill.

ChargeNet CEO Danusia Wypych says the formal partnership with Foodstuffs NZ will speed up the installation of new chargers, building the number of high-powered charge points available nationally, with all new sites to be powered by Ecotricity’s 100% renewable, Toitū climate-positive certified electricity, generated from wind, hydro, and solar.

“We know that supermarket charging is the top preference for our customers. On top of that, 83% of our customers plan ahead for their journey – they know exactly which EV charging stations they’ll use,” she said.

“They’ll get up to 80% charge in the half-hour or so it takes them to complete their shopping. The partnership between ChargeNet and Foodstuffs NZ will add significant value to our customers, in providing the “e-forecourt” of the future, where customers stop in to do their weekly shopping and tick off their vehicle charge at the same time.”