The days when you had to wait for hours for your electric car to get juiced up are soon to be history, provided there’s a Walmart near the place you live.
Starting this month and going well into 2019, 100 Walmart locations across 34 states will be getting in their parking lots Electrify America’s charging systems, including fast chargers. Adding to the existing network, these new systems will likely make Walmart the biggest charging stations host in the Uited States.
According to Electrify America, the most exciting addition to its offering are the first-ever certified cooled-cable 150 to 350 kilowatt (kW) DC fast chargers, capable of pumping into a battery up to 20 miles of range per minute. That’s seven times faster than an average 50 kW charger.
The systems to be installed in the parking lots will not all be fast chargers, though. They will have power outputs ranging from 50 kW in most areas and reach 350 kW for the highway stations. 150 kW charger will also be available for metro locations.
“The expansion of Walmart’s electric vehicle charging facilities with our ultra-fast charging systems will provide consumers with a quick and convenient way to charge their vehicles in the time it takes to make their Walmart purchases,” said Mark McNabb, Electrify America CEO.
“Providing this service is the right thing to do for our customers, our business, and the environment.”
Electrify America is a Volkswagen division, set up to facilitate the introduction of the group’s electric vehicle by creating an infrastructure first. Its stated goals are to invest $2 billion in infrastructure by 2027, $800 million of which in the state of California alone, as the state is seen to be the most EV-friendly location in the world.
There are plans to deploy 2,000 chargers across 484 sites in 17 metropolitan areas and on highways in 39 states, all by the end of 2019.
According to Electrify America, the most exciting addition to its offering are the first-ever certified cooled-cable 150 to 350 kilowatt (kW) DC fast chargers, capable of pumping into a battery up to 20 miles of range per minute. That’s seven times faster than an average 50 kW charger.
The systems to be installed in the parking lots will not all be fast chargers, though. They will have power outputs ranging from 50 kW in most areas and reach 350 kW for the highway stations. 150 kW charger will also be available for metro locations.
“The expansion of Walmart’s electric vehicle charging facilities with our ultra-fast charging systems will provide consumers with a quick and convenient way to charge their vehicles in the time it takes to make their Walmart purchases,” said Mark McNabb, Electrify America CEO.
“Providing this service is the right thing to do for our customers, our business, and the environment.”
Electrify America is a Volkswagen division, set up to facilitate the introduction of the group’s electric vehicle by creating an infrastructure first. Its stated goals are to invest $2 billion in infrastructure by 2027, $800 million of which in the state of California alone, as the state is seen to be the most EV-friendly location in the world.
There are plans to deploy 2,000 chargers across 484 sites in 17 metropolitan areas and on highways in 39 states, all by the end of 2019.