Costco Ventures into EV Charging - Green Car Stocks

Nov 01, 2024

October 31, 2024

American multinational corporation Costco is venturing into the burgeoning battery electric vehicle (BEV) charging market. With the retailer running over 500 stores in the U.S. and 140 stores in the American EV capital, California, Costco could potentially serve thousands of electric vehicle drivers across the country.

Costco recently installed its first branded electric vehicle DC fast chargers in its home state of Washington, in a Ridgefield-based warehouse store. The Costco-branded fast chargers were manufactured by a startup from Seattle called Electric Era and they feature a unique design that uses built-in batteries.

The move represents Costco’s first cautious foray back into the EV charging market, a segment that’s expected to experience explosive growth over the next couple of decades as electric cars become the most dominant form of vehicular transportation. While many retailers started installing EV charging infrastructure on their premises in recent years, Costco installed chargers at many California locations well over 20 years ago and had over 90 chargers at 64 locations by 2006.

Large retailers like Costco are especially suited to electric vehicle charging as EV drivers can kill time and wait for their cars to charge as they eat, shop, or rest from their trips. They typically have the space required to host several EV chargers as well as the capital needed to pay for the installation. Such projects can be sure to attract plenty of EV drivers every day, especially if they are located in states like California which have a high density of electric vehicle drivers.

GeekWire reports that the fast charging stalls installed at the Costco store in Ridgefield, Washington, can each charge two electric cars at a time. Washington currently ranks fourth in EV registrations after California, Florida, and Texas with 168,850 registered BEVs and plug-in hybrids in 2023.

According to Electric Sea, the startup that manufactured Costco’s EV chargers, the installation process was shorter than the time Tesla spends installing new Supercharger stations. The manufacturer notes that it took just 7 weeks from signing contracts to bringing the new chargers online.

The charging stalls feature built-in batteries that store electricity when rates are low and ensure the station continues running even when the lights go out, as well as the option of contactless payments. This charging station will undoubtedly attract customers in Washington and any other state Costco expands to, as the U.S. still has insufficient public charging infrastructure. Many charging stations often have a limited number of chargers that periodically have reliability issues, making EV charging a major hassle for drivers who rely on public chargers.

As the available charging infrastructure increases, motorists are likely to increase their uptake of various EV brands like Life Electric Vehicles Holdings Inc. (OTC: LFEV). This is because buyers will have less to worry about in terms of accessing public charging facilities for their vehicles.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Life Electric Vehicles Holdings Inc. (OTC: LFEV) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/LFEV

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