Walmart & Sam's Club plans own EV fast charging network at thousands of U.S. stores by 2030

[dbsb3233]

NEW YORK, April 6 (Reuters) - Walmart (WMT.N) plans to have its own network of electric vehicle charging stations for public use by 2030, to tap into growing adoption of EVs in the United States.

The new fast charging stations will be placed at thousands of Walmart and Sam's Club stores, alongside nearly 1,300 it already operates as part of a deal with Electrify America, one of the country's largest open public EV networks.

Walmart's more than 5,000 stores and Sam's Club warehouses are located within 10 miles of about 90% of Americans.

"We have the ability to address range and charging anxiety in a way that no one else can in this country," Vishal Kapadia, Walmart's recently-appointed senior vice president of Energy Transformation told Reuters, adding that the new stations will also address issues around reliability and cost.

Kapadia said the strategy entails less risk and will allow Walmart to offer an experience and price "in a way that is not possible when a third party is involved in the equation".

While there are not yet many EVs in the U.S. as a proportion of the total number of cars on the roads, this is beginning to change as high gas prices, increasing state subsidies and new more affordable models have quickly accelerated adoption.

A $5 billion investment by the Biden administration to launch a national charging network is also expected to drive EV sales. By 2029, EVs could account for a third of the North American market, consultancy AutoForecast Solutions forecasts.

With about 240 million customer visits to its stores each week, the new stations could provide Walmart with data on how shoppers pay for them or the time spent at a particular store.

Kapadia said he expects the new charge points to be DC fast chargers, with about 4 chargers on average installed per store.

Walmart declined to comment on details of the investment and said it is in the process of identifying a supplier.

https://www.reuters.com/business/re...charger-network-us-stores-by-2030-2023-04-06/

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[Guss-E 2021]

I want to hunt down all the BEV owners in 2030 who in 2023 where going on about range, the state of public DCFC and how PHEVs are the future. COWARDS!!! Rip the band aid off now and just dive in ? . I'm teasing. Cool post thanks @dbsb3233.

The future looks bright - Donald Fagen

 

[dbsb3233]

Be very curious to see what hardware they choose. That's key. Something that EA has been rather poor at.

But otherwise I LOVE that Walmart is getting into the DCFC game. I know some people don't like them but for us they're usually great road trip locations.

• Often right off the highway
• Open long hours (often 24x7)
• Good bathrooms
• Complete shopping (at good prices, not jacked-up convenience store prices)
• Large parking lots, usually with trash cans and lighting
• Multiple restaurants around the lot (and sometimes in the store)
• A large building for getting a nice walk in when the weather is too hot/cold/wet outside
• Easy to spot that giant sign when road-tripping through an unfamiliar area

Plus I like the idea of the host business actually owning/operating the chargers. More likely to notice and attend to problems that way.

 

[mkhuffman]

I want to hunt down all the BEV owners in 2030 who in 2023 where going on about range, the state of public DCFC and how PHEVs are the future. COWARDS!!! Rip the band aid off now and just dive in ? . I'm teasing. Cool post thanks @dbsb3233.

The future looks bright - Donald Fagen

The state of public charging sucks. Totally.

 

[hybrid2bev]

Be very curious to see what hardware they choose. That's key. Something that EA has been rather poor at.

But otherwise I LOVE that Walmart is getting into the DCFC game. I know some people don't like them but for us they're usually great road trip locations.

• Often right off the highway
• Open long hours (often 24x7)
• Good bathrooms
• Complete shopping (at good prices, not jacked-up convenience store prices)
• Large parking lots, usually with trash cans and lighting
• Multiple restaurants around the lot (and sometimes in the store)
• A large building for getting a nice walk in when the weather is too hot/cold/wet outside
• Easy to spot that giant sign when road-tripping through an unfamiliar area

Plus I like the idea of the host business actually owning/operating the chargers. More likely to notice and attend to problems that way.

I agree except for this one: Good bathrooms. That’s hit and miss….mostly miss.

 

[The Electric Duo]

I agree except for this one: Good bathrooms. That’s hit and miss….mostly miss.

It's been mostly OK for me. Although there was that time we stopped to charge in Barstow and the Walmart bathroom was closed so the meth odor could clear out.

 

[CurtW]

Walmart's more than 5,000 stores and Sam's Club warehouses are located within 10 miles of about 90% of Americans.

But I won't use the locations within 10 miles of my residence. I need these within 10 miles of places I travel to! We shop Sam's every week or two, but I won't 'need a charge on a normal Sunday afternoon trip to the store.

That said, if this goes the route of Member's Mark Lemon Yogurt Almonds, I'm thinking private label electrons may prove even tastier than the major brands.

 

[scoopman]

Well, I hope that Walmart is better able to address the issues I found when I tried to charge at an EA station at my local Walmart in Mountain View, CA, for the first time after taking delivery of my car. I haven't been back to that EA station -- or honestly, to that Walmart -- since.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/horrible-first-ea-experience-today.11171/

 

[dbsb3233]

But I won't use the locations within 10 miles of my residence. I need these within 10 miles of places I travel to! We shop Sam's every week or two, but I won't 'need a charge on a normal Sunday afternoon trip to the store.

That said, if this goes the route of Member's Mark Lemon Yogurt Almonds, I'm thinking private label electrons may prove even tastier than the major brands.

Exactly. I hope they don't pick stores in urban locations, away from travel routes. I hope they pick the stores on travel routes. Locals shouldn't be DCFCing locally IMO. They should be L2ing overnight where they sleep, which is much better for the grid (off-peak), much cheaper, better for the batteries, and far more convenient.

That's also why DCFC should be priced significantly above L2, to discourage it's use (in favor of L2) except when it's truly necessary (like on road trips well away from home).

 

[AhardFSU]

Exactly. I hope they don't pick stores in urban locations, away from travel routes. I hope they pick the stores on travel routes. Locals shouldn't be DCFCing locally IMO. They should be L2ing overnight where they sleep, which is much better for the grid (off-peak), much cheaper, better for the batteries, and far more convenient.

That's also why DCFC should be priced significantly above L2, to discourage it's use (in favor of L2) except when it's truly necessary (like on road trips well away from home).

Shhhh!! Don’t tell that to the locals who either feel like it’s cheaper to charge at their DCFC station or locals that dont have the ability to add L2 charging at their home ?.

But I totally agree that if you fall into the category of not being able to charge at home, you should definitely use an available L2.

 

[Logal727]

I agree except for this one: Good bathrooms. That’s hit and miss….mostly miss.

lol, who said a Walmart bathroom was good? Clearly has never been to Buc-ee's. Truly heaven on earth, you get a full poopin closet!

 

[dbsb3233]

Shhhh!! Don’t tell that to the locals who either feel like it’s cheaper to charge at their DCFC station or locals that dont have the ability to add L2 charging at their home ?.

But I totally agree that if you fall into the category of not being able to charge at home, you should definitely use an available L2.

Or those that get free unlimited DCFC with their car purchase. A grossly counterproductive practice.

I don't blame the buyers that get it for using it, of course. We all would. I blame the manufacturers for giving it. It's so bad for the big picture in so many ways.

Tom said it well...

 

[Logal727]

Would be pretty smart for Walmart to make this part of Walmart+ and people who subscribe to that could get discounts, good way to compete with Amazon

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Exactly. I hope they don't pick stores in urban locations, away from travel routes. I hope they pick the stores on travel routes. Locals shouldn't be DCFCing locally IMO. They should be L2ing overnight where they sleep, which is much better for the grid (off-peak), much cheaper, better for the batteries, and far more convenient.

That's also why DCFC should be priced significantly above L2, to discourage it's use (in favor of L2) except when it's truly necessary (like on road trips well away from home).

Well, some of us don’t have the option to charge on L2s, given we live in condos and the like. Let’s not get too excited about overcharging to solve a perceived problem that doesn’t exist. I’m yet to hear about a person who chooses to DCFC locally when having a L2 alternative. DCFC is already a ripoff at $0.48-0.50/ kWh vs the more typical $0.13 electricity cost in most places.

 

[dbsb3233]

lol, who said a Walmart bathroom was good? Clearly has never been to Buc-ee's. Truly heaven on earth, you get a full poopin closet!

Perhaps I should have said "Passable" rather than "Good". ?

I've been in some truly nasty public bathrooms, where you didn't dare touch anything, other than your nose to pinch it closed because it smelled so bad. I've never run into that at a Walmart. But yeah, they're nothing special either. Just bathrooms, that are usable.

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