The Kroger Co. has installed more than 350 electric vehicle (EV) chargers at locations across the country, with plans to add more by the end of this year.
Charger installations have already been rolled out in collaboration with Blink, Electrify America, EVgo, Tesla and Volta at Kroger locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. Future installations are also planned for stores in Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee and Virginia.
“Increasing our customers’ access to EV charging stations at convenient Kroger locations supports our collective transition to a lower-carbon economy,” said Yael Cosset, SVP and CIO at Kroger in a statement. “We are leveraging technology and innovation to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and are offering customers easy ways to live a more sustainable lifestyle.”
A variety of charging options at Kroger stations enable compatibility for most electric vehicles and include some direct current (DC) fast chargers. Charging times can be as short as 10 minutes, although most sessions average around 30 minutes per vehicle.
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Charging networks could represent a huge opportunity for retailers as the number of EV drivers on U.S. roads continues to increase, and Kroger is not the only retailer to take note. In June 2021, 7-Eleven announced plans to install 500 direct current fast charging EV ports at 250 of its stores in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2022, and as part of Amazon’s attempt to create a zero-carbon Fresh grocery store in Seattle customers will have access to free EV charging stations in the store’s parking lot.
