Volvo Car USA and Starbucks are collaborating to establish the first public electric-vehicle charging network at the coffee company’s U.S. stores beginning this summer, powered by ChargePoint.
Volvo Car USA will install as many as 60 Volvo-branded, ChargePoint DC fast chargers at up to 15 Starbucks locations along a 1,350-mile route from the Denver area to the coffee company’s Seattle headquarters. Plans include a charging location about every 100 miles, well within the battery range of most electric vehicles.
The effort could make charging Volvo pure electric models as easy as going to Starbucks.
ChargePoint’s DC fast chargers can bring the Volvo C40 Recharge, for example, from a 20 percent to a 90 percent charge in about 40 minutes*. While their cars are recharging outside, drivers and their passengers can relax comfortably inside with their favorite Starbucks beverage.
Drivers of Volvo Recharge models with Google embedded can use the ChargePoint app integrated into their vehicle’s in-dash system, while other drivers can us the ChargePoint smartphone app, to find and access the ChargePoint charging stations at participating Starbucks locations.
While all EV drivers will be able to use these stations for a fee, drivers of Volvo Cars will get the added benefit of having access to these stations at no charge or at preferential rates.
Installations on the route are expected to be complete by the end of 2022, giving EV drivers traveling between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Northwest a string of familiar, reliable, clean and safe places to recharge themselves and their battery-powered vehicles.
