You'll soon be able to charge your electric vehicle when you stop by 7-Eleven for a Slurpee.
The convenience store chain, based in Irving, Texas, on Thursday unveiled its ambitious plan to build out what it said will be one of the largest and most compatible fast-charging EV networks of any retailer in North America. The company — which operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 13,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada — is launching 7Charge.
In fact, 7Charge is already offering charging service to customers at several 7-Eleven locations in Florida, Texas, Colorado and California, according to the chain. In addition to creating a proprietary EV charging network, 7-Eleven is also debuting an app for it.
In the case of convenience stores and gas stations, the stakes are high because they don't want to lose sales they now get from selling snacks and drinks while drivers fuel up their gas-powered vehicles.
“For over 95 years, 7‑Eleven has innovated to meet our customers’ needs, delivering convenience where, when and how they want it,” Joe DePinto, the company's president and CEO, said in a statement. "Now, we are innovating once again to meet our customers where they are by expanding our business to provide EV drivers convenience of the future ... today.”
The 7Charge network will address the growing consumer need for EV charging infrastructure, according to 7-Eleven. To meet the projected demand for electric vehicles, the United States needs to quadruple the number of publicly accessible charging stations by 2025, from 140,000 to 770,000, according to a report released earlier this year by S&P Global Mobility.
A variety of retailers, including supermarkets, residential property managers and gas stations, are increasingly installing EV charging stations on their premises. And 7-Eleven isn't the only convenience store chain getting into the EV-charging business. In July last year, General Motors and the parent company of convenience-store-and-gas-station chain Pilot Flying J said they were partnering to install more than 2,000 EV charging options across the nation at 50-mile intervals.
Once the 7Charge network’s expansion is complete, 7‑Eleven said it will have one of the largest and most compatible fast-charging networks of any retailer in North America across its entire family of brands, including Speedway and Stripes stores.
7-Eleven said that by expanding 7Charge, "while continuing to utilize third-party fast-charging network options," it "will have the ability to grow its network to match consumer demand and make EV charging available to neighborhoods that have, until now, lacked access."
The 7Charge sites allow customers to charge any EV make and model compatible with common CHAdeMO or Combined Charging System plug types, and the 7Charge app will offer "a seamless charging and payment experience," according to the chain. The 7Charge app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play.