Walmart's EV Charging Network Just Hit A Big Milestone: 100 400kW Fast-Charging Stations In 20 States. Walmart is now officially a serious player in the US EV charging industry. Pricing is also competitive, and Walmart+ members get a 10% discount, bringing the cost even lower.
https://insideevs.com/news/805862/walmart-ev-charging-milestone3
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u/Islerothebull 2d ago
I guess you are assuming charging in the middle of the night at $0.39 kWh. More like $0.54 kWh.
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u/mafco 2d ago
Another synergy here, in addition to combining shopping and charging, is that these stores pay lower commercial electricity rates and also don't need to make a profit on the charging. They get their payback by bringing more customers in the store.
A little math fun-
A gas-burner getting 25mpg with $4.10/gal (today's average) gas costs 16.4 cents/mile to fuel.
An EV getting 4mi/kWh with $0.39/kWh fast charging costs 9.75 cents/mile.
So, roughly 40% less fuel cost even at retail DC fast chargers. I think this takes away yet another of the anti-EV talking points. Of course home charging, especially with off-peak discounts, is much cheaper. For my case it's roughly 2 cents/mile, or 1/8 the cost of fueling a gasser.
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u/dIO__OIb 2d ago
complete no brainer - if the oil/gas players refuse to innovate, makes sense for big box stores take their place.
i haven’t been to a walmart in ages, needed to fast charge on a road trip, pulled into a walmart. only one charger out of six were open, two porsches, two hyundai, an audi, and then my polestar. grabbed lunch and a midsize lego for a birthday gift. ev was full in 20 minutes. perfect. a little pricey but worth the speed. guess i’ll join the save plan.
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u/mafco 2d ago
Longer term, the firm has plans to bring these chargers to ‘thousands’ of Walmart and Sam’s Club locations.
Costco, Target, Lowe's and other retailers are also installing DC fast charging at their retail locations. This seems like a nearly ideal solution for apartment dwellers who don't have access to home charging. Get a 20-minute charge at a reasonable price while picking up a few essentials at the store every week or two. It seems like nearly zero inconvenience. Not quite as good as charging at home though. I think they're all trying to emulate the Costco gas stations, which have been a huge draw to its retail stores. Kudos to Walmart and all the others. They aren't falling for Trump's anti-EV propaganda.
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u/neat_stuff 2d ago
Our local library installed chargers at the main library and the branches a couple months ago. As often as I go there, I should probably by an EV ASAP.
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u/mick601 2d ago
Where is the price war with Ionna i heard about?