(PRZWT)-On April 7, it was reported that Wal Mart, an American retail giant, announced on Thursday local time that it planned to set up electric vehicle fast charging stations in all Wal Mart stores and Sam's Club stores in the United States, and planned to achieve full coverage of electric vehicle fast charging stations in stores across the United States by 2030.
Previously, Wal Mart has joined the Electrify America project under Volkswagen, which is one of the largest open charging networks for public electric vehicles in the United States. So far, Wal Mart has deployed nearly 1300 fast charging stations in the United States.
Wal Mart has more than 5000 brand stores and Sam's Club stores in the United States. According to statistics, approximately 90% of Americans live within a distance of no more than 10 miles (approximately 16 kilometers) from these stores.
Vishal Kapadia, Wal Mart's newly appointed senior vice president of energy transformation, said in an interview: "We have the ability to solve the problem of electric vehicle range and charging anxiety, which is unmatched by other American companies."
At present, the charging infrastructure of electric vehicles in the United States is rapidly developing, but people are generally concerned about the insufficient running time, performance, convenience, and high installation costs of charging stations.
Capadia said that Wal Mart chose to build its own charging station rather than cooperate with other operators, which will help solve the reliability and cost problems.
Capadia expects that the new charging station will install DC fast charging stations, with an average of approximately 4 charging stations deployed per store.
Wal Mart declined to comment on the financial details and said it was looking for relevant suppliers.
Currently, there are approximately 30000 fast charging stations in the United States that can fully charge electric vehicles within an hour or less. Some of the high-power fast charging piles are even priced at over $100000.
Although there are still not many electric vehicles on the roads in the United States, this situation is changing as oil prices continue to rise, subsidies for electric vehicles increase, and new electric vehicles with lower prices are being launched.
Market consulting firm AutoForecast Solutions predicts that electric vehicles will account for about one-third of the North American market by 2029.
US President Biden previously promised to establish a network of 500000 public charging stations by 2030. In February of this year, the White House announced new federal subsidy regulations totaling $7.5 billion, aimed at promoting the development of the electric vehicle industry and infrastructure construction, including the construction of charging stations along highways in the United States.
Capadia said that Wal Mart would soon start the charging station project and consider applying for federal subsidy funds later.
According to statistics, about 240 million consumers visit Wal Mart stores every week. These new charging stations will also provide Wal Mart with more data on how shoppers pay or how long they stay in specific stores.
