JW Lees has announced it will roll out ultra-rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging points across seven of its pubs in the North West of England.

The brewer and pub operator has chosen national charge point operator BE.EV to implement the new charging points as part of a £1.8 million deal.

JW Lees currently owns and operates more than 150 pubs in the North West and North Wales.

The move involves upgrading the company’s legacy chargers, with 22 ultra-rapid charging bays being added at the locations.

The new chargers, which the companies say allow visitors to add up to 165 miles of range in a 20-minute stop, will serve 12,500 local EV drivers, including visiting drivers.

“As an EV driver myself for the last five years I know how important it is for drivers to have reliable, affordable and convenient EV chargers at pubs and at JW Lees we are working with Be.EV to make our pubs best in class in terms of EV provision," said William Lees-Jones, managing director, JW Lees.

JW Lees plans to install new chargers at a further two pubs in the region early next year.

Legislation that came into force in 2022 means that all new non-residential buildings with more than 10 parking spaces must provide EV charging for one in five of their spaces.

In July, Lidl announced that shoppers would be able to make payments for electric vehicle charging (EVC) via the discount supermarket’s loyalty app.

There are currently over 370 charge points at Lidl supermarkets across the UK which use the Pod Point app as a payment system.

Earlier this year, Sainsbury’s also launched the first EV charging service in the UK which allows customers to collect loyalty points.

The supermarket said shoppers using Smart Charge will be able to collect one Nectar point for every pound they spend on charging their vehicle.

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