Centrica, Volkswagen agree three-year deal for electric vehicle home charging

By Nina Chestney

LONDON (Reuters) - British utility Centrica <CNA.L> has agreed a three-year partnership with Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> to provide home-charging hardware for new electric vehicle owners, it said on Wednesday.

The deal will see Elli, the main provider of charging hardware and services for Volkswagen Group, work with Centrica's British Gas to deliver a package of home-charging installations, after-sales services and electrical upgrades across Britain.

This will help customers to switch to electric vehicles, initially across the Volkswagen, SEAT, SKODA and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands, with plans for Audi to join later this year, Centrica said.

The British government has said it will ban the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars from 2035 or earlier, subject to consultation, in an attempt to reduce air pollution.

Britain is also the first major economy to pass laws to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, compared with the previous target of at least a 80% reduction from 1990 levels.

Countries and cities around the world have announced plans to crack down on diesel vehicles following the 2015 Volkswagen emissions scandal and the European Union is introducing tougher carbon dioxide rules.

"Getting carbon out of transport by accelerating EV adoption is critical for net zero," Sarwjit Sambhi, chief executive of Centrica Consumer, said.

Volkswagen Group has committed to introducing 80 electric and plug-in hybrid models by 2025 and sales of 3 million electric cars a year by 2025.

(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Jan Harvey and Barbara Lewis)