Short dive:
- Meijer and electric vehicle charging company EVgo are expanding their partnership, with plans to do so distribute up to 480 fast charging bays in as many as 60 of the retailer’s locations, EVgo announced on Nov. 19.
- EVgo plans to open up to 30 new stations at Meijer stores by the end of 2026 and another 30 stations by the end of 2027. The new public fast charging infrastructure will be in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, according to the press release.
- The expanded partnership builds on Meijer’s sustainability efforts, including energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives.
Diving information:
The growing tie-up with EVgo will play an important role in supporting the region’s growing population of electric vehicle drivers and encouraging more drivers to choose electric vehicles, the announcement said. This was discovered by a new study conducted by researchers at MIT installing electric vehicle charging stations increases annual spending at nearby companies.
Meijer operates more than 500 locations in six states and currently offers electric vehicle charging options at more than 35% of its locations. EVgo currently has 24 public fast charging stands at six Meijer stores in Michigan and Ohio.
For the upcoming charging stations, EVgo is working with Meijer on site selection in a mix of locations with and without Meijer Express gas stations, communications firm ICR Technology wrote in an email.
“Electric vehicle adoption is growing in the Midwest, and with the addition of hundreds of new fast charging points with the region’s leading supercenter, EVgo’s partnership with Meijer demonstrates our companies’ shared commitment to providing an elevated charging experience for electric vehicle drivers living or traveling throughout the Midwest,” EVgo President Dennis Kish said in the announcement.
These are frustrations with charging infrastructure, such as unreliability, erratic pricing and an insufficient number of charging points major obstacles to increasing sales of electric vehicles in the United States, according to research published this summer by a member of the Harvard Business School.
Along with the electric vehicle charging push, Meijer is working to reduce its carbon footprint with energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives. Meijer announced this in September exceeded its goal to halve its carbon emissions a year ahead of schedule.
EVgo said its expanded work with Meijer is part of its broader work to provide a nationwide charging network. In October EVgo received a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.05 billion in debt financing from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Loan Programs.
Brett Dworski contributed to this story.