Basingstoke: Shopping mall owner goes electric

One of the UK's largest owner/managers of convenience and community-focused shopping centres is installing rapid electric vehicle chargers at its sites. The move forms part of its ongoing programme to modernise its portfolio and improve sustainability measures. 

NewRiver REIT plc has an eight million sq ft portfolio of retail and leisure assets across the UK. The listed REIT is marking its commitment to a greener future by working with one of the biggest electric car charging firms in the country, Basingstoke-based InstaVolt, to install and maintain rapid chargers at selected sites. 

Charging stations are already available to use at NewRiver’s Forum Shopping Centre in Wallsend, North Tyneside and Locks Heath Shopping Village in Fareham, Hampshire. 

Installations are underway at four further community shopping destinations owned by NewRiver, at Cuckoo Bridge retail park in Dumfries, Hill Street Shopping Centre in Middlesbrough, The Deeping Centre in Market Deeping and Waterfront Retail Park, Barry. Installations are due shortly at the Sovereign shopping centre, Boscombe. Installations are due shortly at the Sovereign shopping centre, Boscombe.

The InstaVolt chargers are so efficient that most electric cars could be charged in the time it takes to have a coffee in one of the centre’s cafes.

Jackie Tracey, commercialisation manager at NewRiver said: “Whilst early days for electric car penetration in the UK, we are seeing an increasing number of electric cars drive into our car parks and it’s important for us to cater for the changing needs of our customers. Convenience is key for our shoppers so we chose to work with InstaVolt after hearing how popular its subscription-free, tap to pay chargers are with electric car drivers. Based on their popularity, we are hopeful that having the InstaVolt chargers will increase footfall as drivers seek out the charging stations.”

All of InstaVolt’s chargers are available for electric vehicle drivers to use on a subscription free, pay-as-you-go basis. Motorists simply tap their contactless credit or debit card, charge-up and go. Users are charged only for the electricity they use on a per-unit basis. There is no connection fee, minimum charge or monthly subscription fee. 

The hassle-free approach has recently seen the firm top the user satisfaction rankings for electric car charging networks in the UK that can be used by multiple models of electric vehicle. 

Unlike many other companies, InstaVolt installs and maintains its chargers for free and makes its money from the sale of electricity to drivers. It even gives its partner landlords a rental income for letting them use space to house the chargers. This means that NewRiver will receive a ‘rent’ for having the chargers - money that could be invested into other green initiatives.

CEO of InstaVolt Tim Payne said: “It’s proving a popular proposition for retail site owners who are keen to evolve their offering to cater for electric car drivers. It means any capital set aside for installing chargers can be directed elsewhere into further site improvements.”

NewRiver is one of a growing number of leisure and retail firms calling upon InstaVolt to prepare its sites for the increasing number of electric car drivers. According to latest figures from Next Green Car there are 192,000 plug-in cars and vans in the UK. 

Bannatyne Health Clubs and Dransfield Properties are just some of the other retail and leisure names working with InstaVolt.