Electric car charging stations arrive at COOP supermarkets

23^rd December 2020 – Clean energy at competitive prices. Thanks to a partnership between Unicoop Tirreno and RICARICA SRL, charging stations for electric vehicles are now active in Coop supermarket car parks on the Tuscan coast.

In the car parks of Unicoop Tirreno supermarkets in Pietrasanta, Livorno-Parco Levante, Cecina, Follonica and Orbetello, there are electric car charging stations managed by the company RICARICA SRL.

Functionality, competitive prices and energy from renewable sources are the main characteristics of this partnership, which in 2021 will bring other electric charging stations to almost all of the Cooperative’s sales points with 94 supermarkets in Tuscany, Lazio and Umbria and at the administrative headquarters in Piombino (LI).

These charging stations are fast charging (2 x 22 kW of power), while the one at the Levante Park in Livorno, is an even more powerful charger (50 kW of power). All are equipped with a charging cable which enables fast and comfortable usage, compared to systems that require the use of a personal cable.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has not stopped our investment into green projects with the ultimate aim of protecting the environment, reducing pollution and saving energy” – comments Armando Picuno, Operations Director of Unicoop Tirreno – “The electric car charging stations make concrete the Cooperative’s environmental policy and allow us to offer our members and citizens an increasingly important service, combining the main values of Coop, namely quality, convenience and environmental protection”.

“With these latest installations, FERA’s recharging points in Italy will reach 34 in total, distributed between Tuscany, Liguria, Lombardy and Sardinia. As always with the FERA Group, we aim to meet today’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to be able to buy theirs. It is therefore essential to make transport systems compatible with the environment.”  – explains Cesare Fera, president of the FERA Group – “These charging stations allow you to recharge vehicles quickly and without polluting, since the energy supplied is 100% guaranteed 100 % renewable.”

The charging stations are positioned in areas frequented by the general public, so while they do their shopping, the vehicle can be recharged whilst parked. Charging stations can be activated by using the NEXTCHARGE App, which is the most downloaded App in the car recharging sector in Italy, with about 7,000 systems available and over 200,000 throughout Europe.  Via the QR codes on the charging stations it is possible to access the recharge guide and if necessary, use the customer care service which is active 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Unicoop Tirreno, was founded in 1945 in Piombino (LI), it is a large-scale distribution company with 94 points of sale in Tuscany, Lazio and Umbria: it is one of the nine largest consumer cooperatives present in Italy under the Coop banner, with about 600 thousand shareholders and 3,800 employees. The turnover in 2019 was 889 million euros.  www.unicooptirreno.it

RICARICA SRL is a start-up of the FERA group, founded in 2014, with the aim of providing a charging service for electric cars, with energy obtained exclusively from renewable energy sources; RICARICA installs and manages plants throughout Italy. www.ricarica.biz

FERA SRL – Fabbrica Energie Rinnovabili Alternative – has been operating in the renewable energy sector since 2001 and sells the electricity it produces exclusively from renewable sources (wind, sun, biomass). The annual turnover is around € 30 million, and the energy produced is sufficient to charge 50,000 electric cars per year. The activity of the FERA Group is constantly aligned with best practice criteria, recognized at a national and international level. The companies engaged in the corporate business constitute an integrated and highly synergistic supply chain. www.ferasrl.it