Starbucks and Volvo cars will install 60 DC electric vehicle chargers at 15 Starbucks locations from Seattle to Denver.
The two companies announced on Tuesday which cities will receive charging stations. In Washington, they will be installed in Seattle, Ithaca and Yakima. Oregon is located in elmiston and lagrand. The complete list can be found here.
The plan is to install chargers approximately every 100 miles along the 1350 mile route. The project should be completed before the end of the year.
These stations will be powered by ChargePoint. According to Volvo, it takes about 40 minutes for an electric vehicle with 20% battery power to reach 90% power.
Unlike Tesla charging stations that are only applicable to Tesla vehicles, Starbucks’ chargers will be applicable to any electric vehicle equipped with standard ccs1 or chademo sockets. Non Volvo drivers will pay royalties, while Volvo electric vehicles will be charged free of charge or at discounted rates.
Michael Kobori, chief sustainability officer of Starbucks, announced the location of the charging station in a statement. He said: “charging public electric vehicles should be as simple as drinking a cup of coffee – it’s ok now.”.
Starbucks first announced this initiative in March to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable development. The Seattle based coffee giant has pledged to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% by 2030.
The utilization rate of electric vehicles is rising, and the number of electric vehicles in Washington state ranks fourth in the country. However, as geekwire recently reported, the long-distance road travel of non Tesla electric vehicles may be a worrying experience because of the lack of chargers on the west coast highway.
Both the federal and state governments are trying to solve this problem. This summer, Washington State finalized the blueprint for installing electric vehicle charging stations along the highway. The state plans to invest about $71 million in five years, plus nearly $18 million in non federal matching funds, to install chargers. President Biden has pledged US $5 billion to “eliminate the electric vehicle charging desert in the United States”