Austria: Hofer equips 450 locations with charging stations

Hofer, the Austrian subsidiary of the supermarket chain Aldi, is expanding the charging infrastructure at its shops. Hofer wants to install more than 1,500 new charging points at over 450 locations by the end of 2026. The expansion will be carried out together with regional energy suppliers.

According to the portal Ökonews, the roll-out has already begun. In Leobon, six charging points are live and operated together with Energie Steiermark. Hofer wants to equip half of all suitable branches with EV chargers by 2024 and all 450 car parks by the end of 2026. The goal is to install two to six charging points at each location. The outputs will be between 20 and 150 kW.

“As a grocer, we are aware of our responsibility towards the environment and society. However, we not only want to incorporate the idea of sustainability into our corporate processes, we also want to enable our customers to take this path with us,” said Hofer CEO Horst Leitner at the opening of the charger in Leoben. “In addition to many projects under the umbrella of our sustainability initiative ‘Today for Tomorrow’, the expansion of EV charging stations in our car parks is a step in that direction.”

Ökonews notes that the charging points are installed in the middle between the parking spaces, which is supposed to be particularly convenient for shoppers: “It was important to us that our customers do not necessarily have to park in reverse, but that they can also drive their vehicle into the car park in the normal way and put their purchases from the shopping trolley into the boot as usual,” Leitner explains.

oekonews.at (in German)