Walmart’s EV Stations Let You Plug In While You Shop
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Electric vehicle owners will have a new reason to visit Walmart as they travel across America: Not only can they stock up on snacks and drinks but they can get electric charges.
Arkansas-based Walmart, the nation’s biggest retailer and No. 3 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America, teamed up with Electrify America, a Virginia-based company owned by Volkswagen Group of America. In the past year, 120 electric vehicle charging stations have been installed in 34 states, with most located at Walmart stores off major highways. More are planned as Walmart tries to become one of the nation’s largest retail hosts of electric vehicle charging stations.
Placement of the charging stations currently in operation give drivers the option of stopping only at Walmart stores while they travel on interstate routes from Houston to Chicago, San Antonio to St. Louis and Washington, D.C., to Savannah, GA., according to Walmart.
Now, most commercially available electric vehicle charging stations are concentrated along the two coasts and in major urban areas. Walmart said that through its arrangement with Electrify America, more electric vehicle stations will be available in rural communities, secondary highways and outside the coastal regions.
