VW’s Electrify America is bringing EV chargers to more than 100 Walmart locations across 34 states, and the rollout will be finishing by June 2019. Mind, you, these aren’t just normal installations either because they’re some of the first 150-350kW DC fast chargers that are built to handle next-generation EVs. Needless to say, VW is future-proofing the investment.
The chargers should be three to seven times faster than to 50kW chargers that you normally see today. This basically means that while you’re shopping at Walmart, you may come back to your car fully recharged and ready to go.
Electrify America says that this initiative promises to “more than double” the number of chargers at Walmart stores in the US. While you may think that the 100 stores are nothing compared to Walmart’s over 5,000 store network, it’s a great start. Electrify America is expecting to have installed or at least started working on 2,000-plug stations in the US by the end of 2019.
It’s important to note that this is a big step forward to bringing EVs mainstream. We’re all more likely to purchase an EV when there are easy-to-find charging locations, whether you’re driving short distance or long distance. By having charging stations at as many large retailers as possible, you’ll be likely to use your EV more often and not have to worry that you don’t have enough juice left in your car.
