Starbucks wants to attract electric car drivers with more EV chargers.

Starbucks is adding DC Fast Chargers to its US customers.

A few days ago, we wrote about how Electricity America plans to create high-end lounges for electric car owners who need to charge their cars while away.  Since the first gas stations emerged, drivers have been emphasising gas up as quickly as possible so they can get back on the road quickly.  Texaco (remember them?) Was promising “snappy service” to its customers.

The key phrase in the above paragraph is “while away from home.”  Electric cars are different from traditional cars.  They can be charged wherever there is an electrical outlet.  No gasoline or diesel powered car.  In fact, 85% of all charging happens at home.  EV owners will never visit a commercial charging location, except when long trips are required.

An electric car is different

The argument that it takes too long to recharge an electric car is false equivalence.  Most of the time, all the charging required is done at home when the owner is sleeping.  A regular driver who only goes 25 to 30 miles a day will only plug in once or twice a week.  Traditional car owners cannot enjoy that level of convenience.  Over the course of a year, an electric car driver spends less time refuelling than a traditional car driver.

When charging out of the house, this can include stagnating for up to 20 minutes (if you drive a Tesla) or an hour (if you drive a Chevy Bolt).  Starbucks sees an opportunity here.  According to Fast Company, it has partnered with Volvo and Chargepoint to install EV chargers in its parking lots on the 1,350-mile route from Denver to Seattle, with stations available for approximately 100 miles.  According to Reuters, a total of 60 DC Fast Chargers will be installed at 15 Starbucks locations along the route by the end of 2022.

“It’s one of the deserts to charge, so to speak. There’s not much charging stations available,” says Michael Kobori, chief sustainability officer at Starbucks.

“It combines the idea of ​​electric vehicle charging with the fact that if you are on a trip, you somehow get up early in the morning to get your Starbucks, your drink, your breakfast.  And when you’re sitting there, getting ready for the day and planning and checking your route, your car is just charging, ”he adds.

Volvo and ChargePoint operate installations at Starbucks stores in towns such as Twin Falls, Idaho, and Utah, and navigate the fairly involved process of working with local utilities to install a new power service.  In many areas, chargers help fill the gap not only for travellers but also for local residents.

“This route in reality is going thru federal possibility zones, economically distressed communities,” says Kobori. “So we’re thinking as we look at this, we’ll make sure to bring charging under the serviced markets, so that opens them up to electric vehicles.”

In the pilot, Starbucks tests consumption rates to determine if it wants to expand the service nationally as part of its larger sustainability plan, which aims to make the company “resource-positive”, meaning it captures more carbon dioxide than it emits.

Takeaway

One day, EV charging is fast enough to fill a gas tank.  Until then, clever shops like Starbucks are searching at human beings with cash to spend in camps close to their places and asking, “How will we get them to spend a few cash on our stores?”  Other shops study the Starbucks check closely, looking for their non-public commercial enterprise corporation opportunities.

Same stability changes in life and every change brings opportunity.  Cumberland Farms is one of the first to recognize that if you build an attractive facility, people will come in and buy things when they stand for gas.  Starbucks is taking that idea and applying it to the new world of electric cars.  “Plus a change, plus thé c’est la même has chosen.

Sources Volvo and ChargePoint