Recharge your batteries while shopping

Recharge your batteries while shopping

Together with regional energy supply companies, Discounter Hofer is expanding the charging infrastructure for electric cars in the parking lots of its branches. The starting signal for the expansion has already been given. In Leoben, Hofer built the electric charging station together with the energy supply company Energie Steiermark. Electric car drivers can now charge their cars at six charging points here. “In addition to many projects under the umbrella of our sustainability initiative ‘Today for Tomorrow’, the large-scale expansion of e-charging stations in the parking lots of our branches is a step in this direction,” said Horst Leitner, CEO Hofer S/E, on the occasion of the opening of the first new charging station. With the new e-charging stations, Hof customers will be able to charge their e-cars easily and conveniently while shopping.

Particular attention is paid to comfort. The charging points are located in the middle between the parking spaces. This has a significant advantage: “It was important to us that our customers don’t necessarily have to park backwards, but that they can also drive their vehicle forward into the parking space normally and put their shopping from the shopping cart into the trunk as usual,” says Leitner. Particularly practical: You don't need your own card for the e-charging stations in the Hof parking lots. Because all partners are members of the Federal Association for Electromobility Austria (BEÖ). Within this community you can charge with any card from one of the partners at all charging stations for the same price. This card can be used not only at Hofer, but throughout the entire BEÖ charging network in Austria. Many e-car users already have a card from one of the BEÖ companies. The aim of the discounter was that they could easily use these at Hofer in the future.

Hofer and his partners are pursuing an ambitious goal: half of all suitable branches should be equipped with charging points by the end of 2024, and at least two to six charging points should be available in all suitable branches by the end of 2026. This means that a total of over 1,500 charging points will be created throughout Austria. The charging capacity of the locations will be between 20 kW DC and 150 kW DC. Compared to AC charging (alternating current), DC charging stations (direct current) have the advantage that charging is much faster. With a conventional socket, the charging time is usually over ten hours. With one of the new charging stations in the Hof parking lots, in most cases the time it takes to do the weekly shopping is enough to charge the car sufficiently.