Sainsbury’s partners with Allstar on Smart Charge network

Sainsbury’s has selected fuel card provider Allstar as its first business-to-business “roaming partner” for its Smart Charge electric vehicle charging service.

The move means that Allstar users will be able to charge at the 58-strong network of EV hubs, and benefit from the supermarket group’s Nectar loyalty programme.

Sainsbury’s and Allstar have had a relationship for over 20 years on fuel, but this is the first time it has extended to EVs.

Sainsbury’s launched its Smart Charge network in January, offering contactless payment with no subscription or app required. The 58 hubs have a total of 475 ultra-rapid bays.

At time of launch, Sainsbury’s said there would be 750 bays in more than 100 supermarket locations by the end of this year, a total that would make it one of the UK’s top five providers of ultra-rapid EV charging.

The retail group points to a piece of research it carried out ahead of the Smart Charge roll out that revealed four in five drivers admitting to avoiding long journeys because they did not want to have to charge at public charging stations. Broken chargers were cited as the main deterrent.

The survey also found that 94% of drivers said they would “prefer to use to just one trusted brand”.

Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury’s director of property, procurement and EV ventures describes the partnership with Allstar as “a fantastic new milestone for our EV charging business” and “a critical next step in our ambition to make EV charging simple and accessible to all, giving a whole new sector of EV fleet drivers easy access to our network”.

Paul Holland, managing director for UK/ANZ fleet at Corpay, which is behind the Allstar brand in the UK, says businesses are increasingly turning to EVs for their fleet operations. “It is through innovative partnerships like Sainsbury’s Smart Charge that we are aligning with like-minded brands that share our vision,” he adds.

Allstar claims its fuel card is accepted at 90% of fuel sites across the UK, and that its EV users have access to more than 40,000 chargepoints.