Volvo, Starbucks Team Up for EV Charging Pilot Program [UPDATED]
Volvo and Starbucks are teaming up on a pilot program to explore the installation of electric-vehicle charging stations at various Starbucks locations.
The pilot program will start this summer, and the chargers will be ChargePoint units.
Volvo will install up to 60 DC fast chargers (Volvo branded, naturally) at up to 15 Starbucks stores. All the stores in question will be along a 1,350-mile route from the Denver metro area to Seattle, which, of course, is where Starbucks is headquartered.
The stations will be spaced about 100 miles apart, which places them within range for most EVs.
Volvo’s marketing speak points to how a C40 Recharge owner can get his or her car juiced from 20 percent to 90 percent in about 40 minutes while enjoying an overpriced latte. Of course, the ChargePoint app can be used to find these locations.
There’s a catch, of course — while Volvo owners will get to charge either gratis or at a discount, other EV owners will have to pay up to juice up. Installation of the chargers is expected to be done by the end of the year.
“Volvo Cars wants to give people the freedom to move and lower their impact on the environment,” said Anders Gustafsson, Sr. Vice President Americas and President and CEO, Volvo Car USA, in a statement. “Working with Starbucks we can do that by giving them enjoyable places to relax while their cars recharge.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Volvo Cars to test how we can charge our customers’ electric vehicles at Starbucks stores, said Michael Kobori, Chief Sustainability Officer at Starbucks, in the same statement. “Imagine a future where Starbucks helps our customers to connect — more sustainably.”
“ChargePoint is enabling accessible EV charging opportunities anywhere drivers need it,” said Pasquale Romano, President and CEO of ChargePoint, in the press release. “We’re excited to support Volvo Cars’ road to electrification, and help provide a premium driving experience for its customers to plan charging stops around their favorite Starbucks locations in select west coast destinations.”
We have a few questions not answered in the release. For one, will the chargers be available for use outside of the stores’ business hours? If so, will they be open 24/7 or have their own set hours of operation? Will restroom facilities be available to drivers arriving outside of store hours? Will drivers be expected to make a purchase at Starbucks?
And, finally — what plans are there for expansion?
We’ve reached out to Volvo and we will update if we hear back.
UPDATE: Volvo has replied. The chargers will be open 24/7, bathrooms won’t be available when the stores are closed, there’s no purchase necessary, and the company won’t comment on future plans.
[Image: Volvo]
Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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- Mike Beranek Shouldn't be an issue, a typical 3BR house in Toronto costs like 3 million Chuckiebucks.
- Bd2 Imagine if Hyundai were to develop this, and TTAC were being taxied around naked for their "Drive Notes"
- Cprescott I have to laugh at speed limits. Apparently 95% of the people don't think it applies to them. Here in the states, there should be a fee paid at the time of registration renewal that will allow you to run 10 mph over the limit without a ticket (but you could be pulled over and have your belt checked, etc) Add $150 to the cost of registration and those who feel like they want to go commando, have the cost of speeding 10 over the limit to be no less than $500.
- 3-On-The-Tree I do 80 on I-10 and cars are always passing me pulling away doing well over 100.
- Fed65767768 So Quebec...the only Canadian province still stuck at 100 km/h. Then again, considering how bad the roads are in this poorly run province, I'm not sure many drivers would be willing to drive much faster.
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What about poor urban and rural communities which do not have Starbucks, much less residents who can afford these expensive things? This comes off as rather tone deaf with inflation and rapidly rising fuel costs.
My town just got a Tesla charging station. It's in a small mall with several restaurants.