Why garden centres could become Britain’s best places to charge an EV

For years, the EV charging conversation has been dominated by speed. The assumption has been that drivers want to plug in, add as much range as possible, and get back on the road quickly. That model makes perfect sense on a motorway, but according to destination EV charging specialist ElectRoad, it overlooks a very different opportunity emerging across the garden retail sector.

A different kind of charging

Garden centres are particularly well suited to EV charging because they already give customers something most charging locations cannot: a reason to stay. Modern garden centres have evolved far beyond their traditional role as places to buy plants. Restaurants, cafés, food halls, homewares, gifts, seasonal departments, events and leisure experiences have all helped turn them into destinations where customers choose to spend meaningful time.

ElectRoad’s own research suggests the typical garden centre visit lasts around 57 minutes, creating a natural window for charging. For founder Richard Seppings, that changes the conversation completely. Rather than asking how quickly a vehicle can be charged, he believes destination operators should be asking how charging can fit naturally into the time customers are already spending on site.

“A motorway charger is designed to get somebody charged and moving again as quickly as possible, but a garden centre works differently,” Richard explains. “Customers are already there because they want to be there. They might be buying plants, having lunch, browsing homewares or visiting with the family. Charging can happen in the background while they carry on with the visit they had already planned.”

That distinction matters because it removes one of the biggest frustrations associated with EV ownership: waiting. If charging becomes part of a wider destination experience, motorists do not have to make a separate stop simply to replenish the battery. Instead, they can combine charging with shopping, eating, meeting friends or spending time somewhere they would have chosen to visit anyway.

This, ElectRoad believes, is where garden centres have a genuine advantage over many other charging locations. Large car parks, accessible sites, food and beverage facilities and naturally longer dwell times all combine to create an environment where charging can feel almost incidental. The destination remains the focus, while the technology quietly supports the customer journey in the background.

Designed around dwell time

It also changes the type of infrastructure that makes sense. ElectRoad typically recommends 50–60kW rapid charging for destination locations rather than automatically specifying the fastest equipment available. In a garden centre environment, where customers are likely to remain on site for close to an hour, the most powerful charger is not necessarily the most appropriate one.

“Bigger isn’t always better,” Richard says. “The question should not be ‘what is the fastest charger we can install?’ It should be ‘what is the right charger for this location, this customer and this business?’ You have to look at dwell time, available electrical capacity and the way the site is actually used. In a destination setting, there is a natural charging window that allows you to design the infrastructure around the customer rather than around headline charging speeds.”

Part of the destination experience

This customer-led approach is central to ElectRoad’s proposition. The company argues that successful destination charging should feel like an extension of the wider garden centre experience rather than a separate utility bolted onto the car park. That means thinking beyond the charging point itself and considering how the facility fits with the retailer’s own brand, customer journey and future plans.

There is also scope for charging to become increasingly integrated with the wider retail experience. Over time, this could include links with loyalty programmes, café incentives or other customer promotions, helping the charging facility sit more naturally within the destination rather than feeling disconnected from it.

Planning for tomorrow’s customer

For garden centres, this presents a broader opportunity than simply responding to the growth of electric vehicles. As EV ownership continues to rise, charging availability is likely to play a greater role in where motorists choose to shop, eat and spend leisure time. A customer deciding between two destinations may increasingly take into account whether they can conveniently charge while they are there, particularly if one option allows them to combine that need with something enjoyable.

The question, then, is not simply whether garden centres need charging today, but how customer expectations may change over the next five or ten years. Richard believes charging could follow the same trajectory as many other facilities that once acted as differentiators but gradually became expected.

“There was a time when cafés, accessible parking and better customer facilities were seen as extras,” he says. “Now they are simply part of what people expect from a good destination. We believe EV charging is heading in the same direction. That does not mean every retailer needs to build a huge charging hub tomorrow, but it does mean they should start thinking about what their customers are likely to need in the future.”

For ElectRoad, that means understanding each site individually. Rather than assuming a one-size-fits-all approach, the business looks at existing electrical capacity, customer dwell time, likely demand and how charging can complement the destination over the longer term. The aim is to create infrastructure that supports the way customers already behave, while giving retailers room to evolve as EV ownership grows.

This is particularly relevant for garden retail because the sector has a strong track record of adapting to changing customer behaviour. The industry has successfully broadened its offer over many years, combining horticulture with food, homewares, leisure and experience without losing sight of its core purpose. EV charging could represent another stage in that evolution.

The opportunity is not about turning every garden centre into a charging hub, nor is it about encouraging customers to visit simply because they need electricity. It is about recognising that garden centres already possess something many charging locations are trying to create from scratch: a compelling reason to spend time there.

Richard concludes: “The best destination charging experience is probably one the customer barely notices. They arrive, plug in, enjoy the garden centre and return to a car with significantly more range. They have not spent time waiting for the vehicle to charge because they were already somewhere they wanted to be.

“Garden centres understand how to create destinations people choose to visit. That is exactly why they could become some of the best places in Britain to charge an EV.”

See more at Glee

ElectRoad will make its garden retail debut at Glee 2026, 8–10 September at the NEC Birmingham, stand 17J53.