Walmart to Install Electric Charging Network
Walmart is the largest retailer in the United States, and soon may become the owner of the largest private network of electric charging stations in the nation as well.
Details
Currently, Walmart has 1,300 charging stations at 280 locations, but that means that there are approximately 4,420 Walmart stores that do not have any charging stations. Vishel Kapaida, Walmart’s Senior Vice President of Energy Transformation, hopes to change that. He says in a statement where he outlines a plan to have stations at thousands of Walmarts across the country by 2030:
“The way vehicle ownership looks is changing fast, and so is our business. Today, we are as known for convenience as we are for Every Day Low Price. We are committed to providing customers, members, associates, suppliers and our communities at large with the services they need and want, in a way that fits their lifestyle – making EV ownership easy and simple is no exception.”
Truckers Affected?
The statement by Kapaida, in mentioning suppliers, heavily implies that the network will not only be for mothers and fathers who need a quick charge while shopping for diapers and picnic supplies, but also for the truckers that deliver the over $500 billion in products that Walmart sells each year.
We hope that this is the case, as an 80,000 pound electric vehicle will take a lot more energy to charge than a simple sedan. Assuming the electric truck has 800 kilowatt-hours of capacity, even the fastest charger intended for standard cars would take over 20 hours to charge. It will take a lot more throughput to get a trucker back on the road quickly after a delivery to one of the stores, but perhaps the company can install what is referred to as “Level 3” chargers, so that a driver can gain enough energy to keep moving forward in roughly the same time that it would take to complete a trip to Walmart.
Conclusion
Further details regarding Walmart’s pledge, such as how many chargers per store, how many would be suitable for commercial vehicles, just how many stores are expected to have electrical charging services, and at what cost to the end user, are currently under wraps. We are excited to see where Walmart ultimately goes with this; they hope to become carbon neutral by 2040.
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