Starbucks to install EV chargepoints at select US stores

DC Fast Chargers will be installed at Starbucks stores approximately every 100 miles between the Colorado Rocky Mountains and Seattle | Photo credit: Starbucks

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Volvo-branded electric vehicle (EV) chargers will be available at up to 15 Starbucks stores along a 1,350-mile route from the Colorado Rocky Mountains to the coffee company’s Seattle headquarters by the end of 2022.

The coffee chain said that the DC Fast Chargers, powered by ChargePoint, will be placed at Starbucks stores approximately every 100 miles, tackling the current limited charging infrastructure which is widely considered a barrier to public adoption of EVs and forming part of the company’s 2,700 Greener Store portfolio.

The pilot will enable Starbucks to test the usage rates of the stations and determine the viability of expanding the service nationally.

By 2030, Starbucks plans to offer charging and onsite solar availability at stores and in adjacent locations across the US, with existing solar pilot locations set to expand to 55 new stores this year.

“We have a bold long-term sustainability vision and ambitious goals for 2030. Starbucks partners around the world are passionate about protecting our planet and are at the very centre of driving the innovation that enables us to give more than we take from the planet,” said Kevin Johnson, Starbucks CEO.

In January 2020, Starbucks outlined an ambitious target to become a ‘resource positive’ company by 2030, including a 50% reduction across carbon emissions from direct operations and supply chains, water consumption, and waste sent to landfill. Other initiatives currently being undertake include a Starbucks Partner Waste and Recycling App, and ‘Borrow-A-Cup’ and reusable operating models in the US, UK, Japan and Singapore.

Starbucks installation of EV chargers echoes a similar move by Costa Coffee in the UK, which in May 2021 launched a partnership with InstaVolt to install rapid electric vehicle charging points at 200 new and existing drive thru stores in the UK.