IKEA charges ahead on zero emissions future

IKEA stores across Victoria and New South Wales are installing four electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in each location to enable customers and co-workers to live a more sustainable life as it strives to create a zero emissions future for the company.

In Victoria, IKEA Richmond and Springvale have installed the chargers, and in New South Wales, coming soon to IKEA Tempe and Marsden Park, providing a safe and convenient location for customers and co-workers to charge their EVs while they shop, now and into the future.

The charging stations are currently free to use and will come with a Type 2 cable – meaning you won’t need to bring your own.

With more than half (56%) of Australians considering an electric vehicle as their next car, according to the Electric Vehicle Council[1], IKEA has ensured the locations of the chargers at each store can cater for expansion in the future.

Brendan Groll, Fulfilment Sourcing Manger, IKEA Australia, said, “At IKEA, we want to support our customers in taking climate action into their hands to enable them to have a positive impact on people and the planet. As an organisation, we strive to provide sustainable services for our customers whilst looking to embed these climate positive actions into our operations.

The action is part of the company’s global ambition to provide access to EV charging stations for our customers and co-workers in all its owned car parks to help reduce relative emissions by 50% from co-worker and customer travel to stores by 2030. In addition, IKEA aim to have 100% of transport for customer deliveries and services to use electric vehicles (EV) or other zero emission (ZE) solutions by 2025. IKEA was the first home furnishing company in Australia to have EV last mile deliveries and assembly services, commencing trials in 2018.

Mr Groll said, “Our research[2] confirms most Australians are taking climate action at home, and the addition of these charging stations at more of our stores means more can also take action outside the home too. We now have this infrastructure in seven out of ten IKEA stores across Australia, as well as our Distribution Centre, which provides for our service partners and co-workers on site.

“With electric vehicle sales growing despite the pandemic[3] and consumers expecting businesses to do more to reduce emissions[4] , IKEA is calling on other retailers to consider installing charging stations for their customers and support the transition of their transport fleets to zero-emission vehicles.

Currently, users at the four new locations can simply ‘plug and play’. In the coming weeks, EV motorists will need to have a Chargefox account. The app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.

[1] EVC-State-of-EVs-2020-report.pdf (electricvehiclecouncil.com.au)

[2] ikea3037-sustainability-report-2021_297x210mm_final310521.pdf

[3] EVC_annual_report_-V3-Aug-13th-1.pdf[4] ikea3037-sustainability-report-2021_297x210mm_final310521.pdf