In pursuit of building a network of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging points, charging infrastructure specialist Pod Point has confirmed a loan from green banking specialist Triodos Bank.

The loan will help to fund hundreds of EV charging points across the UK, which will be installed and operated by Pod Point. They will also include 7kW media chargers capable of displaying advertising on a screen, from which customers will be able to charge for free.

The debt facility will also be sanctioning the installation of 100 EV charge stations across 600 Tesco Stores as part of the Pod Point partnership with Tesco and Volkswagen announced in 2018.

Philip Bazin, Head of the Environment Team at Triodos Bank UK, said: “Given our focus on sustainable and responsible finance, it is fundamental to Triodos to support projects, such as charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, which help us transition to a low carbon, clean future.

“The transport sector now has the highest greenhouse gas emissions of any industry in the UK, with passenger car road transport accounting for over 50% of these emissions. We need the vision and capabilities of pioneering companies like Pod Point and mainstream businesses like Tesco wanting to deliver the change in our transport infrastructure that we need to see.”