IKEA and Starbucks become charging destinations for EV drivers

Oh the joys of charging your EV at a public DC station, after finding one that actually works and is in a safe spot. Times of public chargers being tucked away at the back of supermarkets or storage units are slowly going away with many retailers realizing they can have a customer for much longer than any gas station can dream of.

Starbucks is one of those banking on EV owners and it makes a lot of sense, just as it did when free wifi became unanimous with the Starbucks name. It’s a match made in heaven - plug it in, go get a muffin and a cup of coffee.

Starbucks announced it is going to build 60 fast chargers at 15 of its locations across the US, by the end of this year. The company has chosen locations that are no more than 100 miles apart and the charging equipment will be provided by ChargePoint.

Audi and Volvo are stepping up their charging game with opening new charging stations for their customers, Electrify America is opening its charging stations across the country that offer comfortable respite for EV drivers on top of its already existing 100 locations at Walmart and Target.

In Europe Tesla is opening self-service lounges at its Supercharger locations. Back in the US, IKEA is installing chargers at its stores as quickly as it can. It promised to have them in 25 stores across the 18 states and contracted Electrify America to deliver the equipment.

Reliable and widely available EV charging is the single biggest obstacle to faster adoption of electric cars. Yes, price can be an issue but even that pales in comparison with how inadequate the charging network still is. It is all changing though, maybe not as fast as we would like it to, nevertheless the charging infrastructure is improving all the time.

Year ago it was an adventure trying to drive across Europe or the US in an electric car, it required a considerable amount of planning, backup and bravery. Now it’s no longer an issue, sure it may not be perfect and there will be hiccups along the way but it can be done.

More importantly though, since we don’t drive cross-country every day, there are more chargers within 50 miles or kilometers from wherever you are in the world, then there were last year. And there is more coming.

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