Walmart EV Charging Network to Blanket US. First Charge Experience & Review

[hturnerfamily]

Walmart locations are certainly not 'permanent', at least forever, as our town's version was more in the 'center' of things, for it's 20 year lease, then moved to a new 'out of town' location that now draws all the flies and other stores and businesses...

Walmart's have certainly moved for many towns just because it is the nature of the business: Leases expire.
Business 'moves' in a different direction.
Buildings get old.
Remodeling is no longer a great option.
A 'regular' Walmart transformed to a 'Super' Walmart, etc.

I can almost assure you that the majority of Walmarts will never stay in the same location for 100 years, just because that's where they started. Things change. So do they.

Our very small town was honored to have one of the first, and the very FEW, Walmart Markets... a tiny 'dollar general' sized Walmart, even with a Pharmacy, and GAS PUMPS.

That didnt' work well for Walmart. The 13 around the southeast were shuttered back many years ago.
I can bet that almost EVERY ONE of those, without skipping a beat, are now the ONLY Dollar General stores that pump gas. : ) Love um! Failure for Walmart. A WIN for Dollar General.

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[watts/up]

So, after watching the video I got the impression from Happel that Walmart owned most of their stores. If so, that would be a big benefit when installing chargers because they could do whatever they want (within reason) w/r/t ports, locations, subscriptions, etc... and also generate retail sales – people charging their EVs are typically a captive audience.

In the US they have over 5000 stores (including Sam's Club locations). If they installed chargers in just half of them they could roughly equal the number of Superchargers (not ports, just locations). Still, it could be a big deal, especially assuming that a lot of those stores are probably in so-called charging deserts.

This article states that they own 88.7% of their locations. Who knows if it's accurate but they certainly own more locations than Tesla does. I think this is a smart move by Walmart.

 

[Mashedtators]

people charging their EVs are typically a captive audience.

In the US they have over 5000 stores (including Sam's Club locations).

I wonder if Meijer has seen an uptick in traffic with the Tesla and EA chargers they have? I know I’ve gone inside to use the bathroom and grab a snack during a charge.

 

[watts/up]

I wonder if Meijer has seen an uptick in traffic with the Tesla and EA chargers they have? I know I’ve gone inside to use the bathroom and grab a snack during a charge.

I'd imagine so.

Looking at it from the consumer's perspective, given the choice, I'd definitely prefer to charge my truck at a Wawa than the back side of a Home Depot or in a boring bank parking lot. I haven't heard of charging locations closing down (I'm sure there have been instances) but we're hopefully going to have more choices going forward and that's fun to think about.

 

[Mashedtators]

we're hopefully going to have more choices going forward and that's fun to think about.

I agree and this will force gas stations that install chargers to reinvent themselves. Meijer/walmart offer a lot for 30-40 minutes while we charge. Hopefully gas stations can offer better food choices, somewhere to hang, and relax. Of course with the new battery tech, a charge longer than 10 minutes may be a thing of the past and it won’t matter.

 

[B177y]

I am currently traveling across WY with my dad in his ICE car. There's no DCFC between Rock Springs and Cheyenne. 264 miles between DCFC but due to wind, topography, etc., it's pretty much not able to be done in any mainstream EV. What I did see while traveling on I-80 are Wal-Marts. I hope this stretch, and others like it, will finally get some DCFC if this plan of Wal-Mart's turns into reality.

 

[jerock]

I did that stretch over a year ago and unless it’s changed there wasn’t any problem finding Tesla chargers along that route. I never had a stretch that far apart.

 

[RickLightning]

I am currently traveling across WY with my dad in his ICE car. There's no DCFC between Rock Springs and Cheyenne. 264 miles between DCFC but due to wind, topography, etc., it's pretty much not able to be done in any mainstream EV. What I did see while traveling on I-80 are Wal-Marts. I hope this stretch, and others like it, will finally get some DCFC if this plan of Wal-Mart's turns into reality.

Rawlins, WY EA is being upgraded...

I did that stretch over a year ago and unless it’s changed there wasn’t any problem finding Tesla chargers along that route. I never had a stretch that far apart.

You are mistaken. Only EA on I-80 in Wyoming. Any old, non- compatible Tesla SuperChargers.

 

[jerock]

Yes you are probably correct with that. I was driving a Tesla so it was not an issue.

 

[B177y]

Yes you are probably correct with that. I was driving a Tesla so it was not an issue.

I was using my Lightning charging settings in ABRP to see if that part of the trip was possible. Plugshare does show Tesla-only chargers through that section, so they do have the ability to make it.

It's still baffling to me that a major cross-country interstate highway like I-80 still has large sections that are not traversable by so many EVs, especially CCS EVs. Still hoping this Wal-Mart plan can fill in lots of the holes and allow some more access to travel off of the interstates.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I'm wondering if WMT is making a secret investment into a new 'EV' manufacturer, also, and getting ready to support their customers - like Bezos and Slate, or Musk and Tesla, or Amazon and Rivian, etc...

unlike gas stations, and chains, like BP and Shell and even 'Bucc-ees' now, there are not nearly the support of massive numbers of locations within the EV charging world, especially DC Fast Charging, as was the growing support for ICE vehicles by independent businesses... so, the EV manufacturers themselves may have to not only provide the vehicle, but, like Tesla, and even Rivian, also the travel CHARGING infrastructure...

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

so, the EV manufacturers themselves may have to not only provide the vehicle, but, like Tesla, and even Rivian, also the travel CHARGING infrastructure...

Seems like the case,
and yet looking at my own use, most of the time, I only charge at home overnight.
Public chargers are mostly about travelling farther than the range of the vehicle. Then you look at two options: fast charging so you can get going again after a snack or destination overnight charging at a hotel, which is typically not going to be fast charging.
Hotels seem like a good case for lots of level 2 chargers, to keep cost of installation low and the hotel can list EV Charging as a feature to attract bookings.
Restaurants are a bit more challenging, since meal times of day are clustered, and a meal is maybe half hour to one hour - so the chargers need to be faster (more expensive) and restaurants often live and die on small margins already.
Gas stations don't seem too interested in adding EV chargers, although our Petro-Canada chain does have them at most locations, typically 50kW chargers only. It would be nice to see chargers in places where there is something to do or see for half-hour to an hour.

I wonder about a group of businesses working with a small town together setting up charging and business/restaurants/local attractions hub as an incentive for EV drivers to pull off the hwy and stop/charge/spend/see - ie give an EV driver an incentive to stop at your town, instead of the next hwy supercharger location.
The number of EV's being too small may make this un-economic - which in turn leads to fewer EV buyers...chicken & egg problem...if we built it they will come?

 

[RickLightning]

I was using my Lightning charging settings in ABRP to see if that part of the trip was possible. Plugshare does show Tesla-only chargers through that section, so they do have the ability to make it.

It's still baffling to me that a major cross-country interstate highway like I-80 still has large sections that are not traversable by so many EVs, especially CCS EVs. Still hoping this Wal-Mart plan can fill in lots of the holes and allow some more access to travel off of the interstates.

Again, Rawlins, WY is being upgraded, should reopen in early May. I charged there most recently on Jan 31st.

 

[B177y]

Again, Rawlins, WY is being upgraded, should reopen in early May. I charged there most recently on Jan 31st.

I'm not disputing that. If you try to make a trip right now, you have to detour way down into Colorado and then back up to Interstate 80. It would be nice if there was more chargers to make up the slack.

Actually, more chargers is always good for everywhere. There are Walmarts along I-80, and that's why I keep saying if this plan is true, having to do intricate planning through ABRP will hopefully become a vestige of the past.

 

[jetfixr1]

Anyone know the filter for this in plugshare There is no Walmart under network.

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