Partnerships can be a funny thing in all walks of life. With any good business partnership, both parties need to be happy of both the origination of the concept and also the outcome and, of course, it needs to be beneficial to each.
When it comes to public EV charging therefore, you can often see partnerships at charging hubs with certain coffee chains or other brands, in the same way that you do at motorway service stations.
Perhaps one of the smarter partnerships in the charging world has been McDonalds with Instavolt. There are more than 500 Instavolt chargers at 250 McDonalds branches throughout the UK. For anyone on a long journey, particularly those with a family, it makes it an obvious place to stop to charge while the family grab a bite to eat. It is the ultimate answer in charging because you need to stop rather than stopping because you need to charge.
That’s the same with the latest tie-up just announced with RAW charging and B&Q. RAW is investing up to £11m at 28 B&Q sites to provide 200 ultra rapid chargers. Seven sites with 36 chargers have in fact already been fitted, with the remainder coming by the end of 2026. And, even smarter, the bays have been designed with vans and larger vehicles, for better use by trade B&Q customers.
Why is this such a clever partnership? The simple answer is that it provides a captive audience for both RAW and B&Q. For EV drivers, it provides more fast chargers in local areas, which is helpful for those without off street parking. For RAW it gives them added credibility and awareness in the EV charging space, alongside more established players such as Instavolt and Gridserve.
But where it’s really clever is that, just like McDonalds, for B&Q, it gives them access to a new expanded audience. Those in their cars are almost certain to have a stroll around the store while charging and, inevitably, are likely to buy something as a result. For B&Q that’s immediate increased revenue.
Furthermore, with electric van sales on the rise and finally gaining traction, that is likely to see an increased number of tradespeople visiting the site and, again, spending money where they might not have done before. As with the retail buyers, this might not necessarily mean a very high value spend, but those incremental sales – a new drill set, a pot of paint, tools they forgot to buy – all add up. And of course for RAW charging, the longer the driver browses, the more charge they will get and the more money they will spend.
We’ve seen retail partnerships with charging before with the likes of Tesco and Podpoint, but these were always slower charging units – not of much use when making a short visit. Instead, these faster chargers can deliver more power in a shorter time, meaning it’s perfect for all parties.
Perhaps most importantly, for EV drivers though, this latest partnership with RAW charging and B&Q is a perfect understanding of driver’s needs and exactly what we’d like to see more of in the future.