Electrify America Level 2 chargers with Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf
Tired of not being able to find a fast charging station near the stuff you need to buy? Not anymore.
Electrify America, an organization born out of the Volkswagen emissions settlement, plans to install an unspecified number of DC fast-charge stations at 100 Walmart stores across the country.
Not only should this give electric car drivers a convenient place to charge while they buy groceries and other essentials, it may also play an important role in making fast electric car chargers a common sight for mainstream American Walmart shoppers.
Electrify America says that the Walmart installations will include DC fast chargers with up to 350-kw of power that can replenish 20 miles of range per minute—plenty to fill up your 200-mile electric car while you shop.
The company notes that that’s about seven times faster than most of today’s fast chargers outside the Tesla Supercharger network.
The fast chargers will include both CHAdeMO and CCS Combo plugs to accommodate the widest variety of electric cars on the road. (CHAdeMO connections will provide only 50 kw, or about three miles of range per minute.)
Alongside the fast chargers, the company will install standard Level 2, 240-volt chargers for electric cars and plug-in hybrids that don’t have DC fast-charge capability.
Both types of chargers will be equipped with credit-card readers to they’re accessible to just about any electric car driver; they don’t require membership in a charging service.
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The fast chargers stand eight feet tall, so they’ll be easy to spot, and use a 15-inch touch screen for controls as well as some redundant buttons.
Nationwide, Electrify America plans to deploy 2,000 chargers across the country at 484 sites in 17 U.S. cities and along highways in 39 states.
READ THIS: Electrify America contracts with Greenlots for electric-car charging sites, installations
The Volkswagen settlement calls for the company to spend $2 billion building plug-in car charging facilities along with hydrogen fueling stations in California.Almost half of that—$800,000—will go to California; the other $1.2 billion will be spread across the country.
Electrify America, a company built to spend that money and get the stations built, has contracted with charging network Greenlots, to install the stations in major cities.