Mercadona, the physical supermarket and online sales company, renews and expands its network of charging stations for electric vehicles with the objective of improving the service provided to “The Boss” (customer). To do so, it plans to invest €21 million and install approximately 5,000 semi-fast charging stations, making the Mercadona charging network one of the largest private networks in Spain and in the south of Europe.

Of the total 2,000 charging stations that the company currently has, 100 already feature this new and improved service that will be gradually extended to all other stores in the chain. The objective is for all stores that have implemented the New Efficient Store Model and that have a car park to have installed this new system by the end of 2024.

A notable feature of the main improvements of these new charging stations is that the charging speed has been multiplied by 6, going from 3.7 kW to 22 kW.

In collaboration with Iberdrola and Repsol, which will manage the service and the customer service of these charging stations, the company will start to offer this service to its “Bosses”, who will be able to charge their electric vehicles while they are shopping. Customers will be able to manage all the necessary processes through the mobile application of these providers (Recarga Pública Iberdrola and Waylet from Repsol), such as making simple payments, finding their nearest charger, and knowing whether it is available.

Ángela Clemente López, manager of the Charging Service for Electric Vehicles at Mercadona, highlights the importance of all the national collaborators involved in this initiative. “With Iberdrola and Repsol as the operators of the charging stations and Circutor as the manufacturer of the chargers, we are creating a high-quality charging network for electric vehicles, which contributes to encouraging the use of electric vehicles and decarbonising private transport throughout the country, not only in large cities. Additionally, electric vehicle users who use these chargers may reduce the cost of making a journey by up to approximately half compared with the traditional equivalent,” she explains.

“Iberdrola has spent years promoting electric mobility in multiple fields, from public charging to the residential and business sectors. For this reason, today, we can say that we are the leading public charging network in Spain. This agreement with Mercadona will allow us to make electric mobility even more accessible to citizens by offering semi-fast charging services at its supermarkets. As a result, Mercadona customers will be able to charge their vehicles while shopping and will also be able to use the Recarga Pública Iberdrola app to charge and pay easily, as 100,000 users already do. It is certainly great news with regard to achieving the decarbonisation of the economy through electric mobility,” states Raquel Blanco, Global Director of Smart Mobility at Iberdrola.

In turn, Carlos Bermúdez, Electric Mobility Manager at Repsol, explained that “this partnership with Mercadona is another step in Repsol’s commitment to electric mobility in Spain.  Thanks to this agreement, Repsol increases its network of public access charging stations, which positions the multi-energy company as one of the largest electric mobility operators in the country. Additionally, this milestone consolidates our position as a leading company in mobility, committed to the objective of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, being the first company in the sector to adopt this ambitious target.”

This initiative is an important step for Mercadona toward a development strategy for energy transition, which is already underway and linked with the implementation of renewable energies and energy-saving measures at its centres.

Find out which supermarkets have parking spaces with charging facilities for electric cars here (updated). 

Charging stations for electric vehicles at a Mercadona store.

Vehicle charging in the car park of a Mercadona store.