$0.42/kwH is competitive? I think the highest I've ever paid was $0.43/kwH.
FWIW my nearest DCFC, the Electrify America station at my local Walmart, charges $0.56/kWh.
Walmart plans EV Charging network which will blanket the US within a few years
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Re: Walmart plans EV Charging network which will blanket the US within a few years
#32Makes a lot of sense from my amateur perspective. It takes a bit of time to charge a car, and you might as well use it to buy your groceries. Plus I'm sure WM can get a sensible bulk discount on electricity. Add to that, you can make people use your app and show them targeted adverts. You can get them to buy any bulk goods for pickup when they are charging the car.
Only trouble is, the cars charge too fast now days! An 800V vehicle like the Ioniq 5 can often be topped up in under 15 minutes, barely enough time to buy a coffee and use the restroom, let alone do any grocery shopping! And some charging networks apply idle fees if you don’t move your car quickly when charging completes. Of course, a car can only charge as fast as the charger, so maybe it makes sense (and certainly…
Fast charging degrades the battery. Obviously you will choose a slower charger if you know you will be gone for 45 minutes.
Walmart is also unlikely to have these charges, since they obviously do not want people to rush through their stores. (Obviously charges after a couple of hours might be there.)
Re: Walmart plans EV Charging network which will blanket the US within a few years
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Why does charging an EV require use of an app? It doesn't. Almost all DC fast charging I've done has been plug and charge or with a normal credit card terminal. Meanwhile when I buy gas at QT or Sam's Club I pay through an app.
I've driven EVs since 2013 across several states and I've never once encountered a functioning public charging station in the US that has a credit card reader and does not require payment and/or access via an app. I'm all in favor of it, and I understand they technically exist, but perhaps your specific locality requires that? It's in no way my experience.
I've driven EVs in the US across several states since 2021 and I've run across several dozen DCFC that accepted nothing but a credit card reader.
Re: Walmart plans EV Charging network which will blanket the US within a few years
#34$0.42/kwH is competitive? I think the highest I've ever paid was $0.43/kwH.
It depends on where you live and the time of day. I've seen some above $0.60 in Pennsylvania.
Re: Walmart plans EV Charging network which will blanket the US within a few years
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very few people have purchased the gasoline-engine equivalent of such cars, so not sure why an EV version would fare a lot better.
… in the USA. European cities are full of small city cars. Driving (and parking) anything much larger can be impractical on many streets in Europe.
>… in the USA. European cities are full of small city cars.
All of these cars are highway capable. The cars OP describes are extremely niche in Europe.
Re: Walmart plans EV Charging network which will blanket the US within a few years
#36At least in the Pacific Northwest most Electrify America installations are in Walmart parking lots. These have caused me to spend more time at Walmart the past two years, honestly its a pretty good experience - aside from EA reliability issues, which seem to have improved but still far short of Tesla.
I have a hard time just picking up and plugging that heavy fatass CCS connector. And then I have to try plugging it in 3 times because it waits for the car and the car waits for it and one gives up before the other succeeds.
Re: Walmart plans EV Charging network which will blanket the US within a few years
#37Chaotic good, I could imagine Walmart deciding to sell a miniature EV for around $12,000. Imagine something like a two-seater City car, while I'm dreaming I imagine this type of vehicle completely taking over for most City commuting. Since these would be smaller and slower than normal cars, they would be phenomenally safer.
For your consideration, the Smart Fortwo electric drive. They really tried. Not a success. While I never owned one, I drove them several times and I liked them!
Re: Walmart plans EV Charging network which will blanket the US within a few years
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
So Walmart's chargers require it. But EVs can charge at places other than Walmart. So a valid response to "Why does charging an EV require use of an app" is, it doesn't, other places don't require it.
The article is about Walmart chargers 8-/ Even aside from that, many charging networks _do_ require "membership", "running the app", and often even require a pre-established balance on the account for the most convenient charging process. It seems Walmart is also planning to follow this strategy, which is the point of the original objection.
Your comment wasn't scoped to only Walmart chargers. It was scoped to "EV charging", which often doesn't require an app.
As mentioned, the vast majority of my public DCFC experiences haven't used an app at all.
Re: Walmart plans EV Charging network which will blanket the US within a few years
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Why does charging an EV require use of an app? It doesn't. Almost all DC fast charging I've done has been plug and charge or with a normal credit card terminal. Meanwhile when I buy gas at QT or Sam's Club I pay through an app.
I've driven EVs since 2013 across several states and I've never once encountered a functioning public charging station in the US that has a credit card reader and does not require payment and/or access via an app. I'm all in favor of it, and I understand they technically exist, but perhaps your specific locality requires that? It's in no way my experience.
There's an EVGo station near me which works with a credit card reader. Since my car supports plug and charge on that network, I used that.
Re: Walmart plans EV Charging network which will blanket the US within a few years
#40Chaotic good, I could imagine Walmart deciding to sell a miniature EV for around $12,000. Imagine something like a two-seater City car, while I'm dreaming I imagine this type of vehicle completely taking over for most City commuting. Since these would be smaller and slower than normal cars, they would be phenomenally safer.
For your consideration, the Smart Fortwo electric drive. They really tried. Not a success. While I never owned one, I drove them several times and I liked them! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_electric_drive
The smart is also a "real" car. You can use it on the highway.
Obviously it isn't great there, but it is not a car you can only drive in the city.