Who’s hot and who’s not among US retailers for EV charging
Only a measly 1% of US retailers offer EV charging stations even though they come with significant benefits and government incentives, according to Consumer Reports.
The independent research and consumer advocacy watchdog’s first-of-its-kind study, released today, evaluates the availability of EV charging stations and the commitments made by companies to provide charging at 75 of the largest national and regional retailers across the US.
Consumer Reports analyzed over 270,000 store locations across major retail categories, including big box stores, convenience stores, grocery stores, drugstores, department stores, and discount stores. EV charging is available on average at 1 out of every 14 big box store locations, 1 out of every 15 grocery stores, and 1 out of every 40 department stores.
The study asserts that installing EV chargers can be a way for brick-and-mortar retailers to increase foot traffic (an average of 4%) and revenue (5%). Most retail locations across the US are eligible for federal benefits covering 30% (up to $100,000) of installation costs.
Drew Toher, sustainability campaign manager at Consumer Reports, explained:
Retailers are uniquely positioned to address America’s charging challenge because they have easily accessible, convenient locations in virtually every community.
Companies can attract more shoppers, elevate their brand, and leverage federal incentives, while consumers benefit from the convenience of integrating EV charging into their routine stops.
The leaders and laggards
Spoiler: Except for IKEA, there are currently a lot more laggards than leaders when it comes to installed EV charging. Here’s what Consumer Reports found:
Big Box Stores: Among big box retailers like Walmart and Target, no company except IKEA currently offers EV charging at more than 10% of its locations. IKEA is the only retailer that offers EV charging at nearly 100% of its US locations – but it does need more chargers per location. Walmart is working to build its own DC fast charging network across the US.
Grocery Stores: Amazon Fresh/Whole Foods and some regional supermarkets, including Big Y, Hy-Vee, Meijer, and Raley’s, offer EV charging at over 10% of their locations. Trader Joe’s and Aldi are laggards, with a mere 10 locations combined. Lidl wins the booby prize with none.
Convenience Stores: Wawa and Sheetz lead this category, with more than 10% of locations providing EV charging. Larger chains like 7-Eleven and Circle K currently don’t offer EV charging at more than 1% of store locations. A couple of weeks ago, a Kentucky Circle K became the site of the Southeast’s first NEVI-funded EV charger, and more are in the pipeline in that state.
Department Stores: Kohl’s has installed EV charging at over 10% of its stores. Dillard’s, JCPenney, and TJX Co. combined have installed charging at fewer than 10 locations. Ross doesn’t have any.
Drugstores: Walgreens is the leader, as it’s installing EV chargers at hundreds of its store locations and committing to even more. But CVS is the laggard, as it currently offers charging at fewer than 10 store locations. Rite Aid has none. Drugstores are ideal for DC fast chargers since the average dwell time for drugstores is between 15 and 60 minutes.
Discount stores: Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Five Below have effectively made no investments in EV charging. With their nearly 40,000 store locations, these stores could play a key role in improving access to rural and under-resourced communities.
Fast Food: This whole retail category is the biggest laggard. With nearly 128,000 US locations, the sample of fast-food companies represents the largest segment of retailers that Consumer Reports surveyed. Fewer than 200 of their locations currently offer EV chargers, and no leading fast-food company offers EV charging at more than 1% of store locations. However, Starbucks, Subway, and Chipotle have all announced plans to start installing EV infrastructure.
Prateek Suri of the nonprofit electric transport organization Forth said in response to the Consumer Reports study:
With federal funding available, this is the best time for retailers to invest in EV charging.
Echoing the recommendations in the report, we urge retailers to commit to clear timelines, prioritize equity, educate customers, and ensure proper maintenance of chargers.
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HOUSTON — Amazon, Alphabet’s Google and Meta Platforms on Wednesday said they support efforts to at least triple nuclear energy worldwide by 2050.
The tech companies signed a pledge first adopted in December 2023 by more than 20 countries, including the U.S., at the U.N. Climate Change Conference. Financial institutions including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley backed the pledge last year.
The pledge is nonbinding, but highlights the growing support for expanding nuclear power among leading industries, finance and governments.
Amazon, Google and Meta are increasingly important drivers of energy demand in the U.S. as they build out artificial intelligence centers. The tech sector is turning to nuclear power after concluding that renewables alone won’t provide enough reliable power for their energy needs.
Amazon and Google announced investments last October to help launch small nuclear reactors, technology still under development that the industry hopes will reduce the cost and timelines that have plagued new reactor builds in the U.S.
Meta issued a call in December for nuclear developers to submit proposals to help the tech company add up to four gigawatts of new nuclear in the U.S.
The pledge signed Wednesday was led by the World Nuclear Association on the sidelines of the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference in Houston.
Environment
French industrial giant Schneider Electric hails the significance of China’s ‘DeepSeek moment’
China’s so-called “DeepSeek moment” is likely to be good news in the global race to develop artificial intelligence models that can carry out more complex tasks, according to Jean-Pascal Tricoire, chairman of French power-equipment maker Schneider Electric.
“I actually think its good news. We need AI at every level,” Tricoire told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore on Wednesday.
“We need AI to optimize your whole enterprise at all levels, so that you can buy better, consume better, decide better, source better. To do all of this, we need models to operate on a smaller scale,” he added.
Tricoire said the emergence of Chinese AI app DeepSeek showed that AI models can achieve the same results as some of its more established U.S. rivals, but with a much smaller model.
It “will actually spread AI at all levels of the architecture much faster,” Tricoire said. He added that DeepSeek’s blockbuster R1 model would be “fantastic” for improving safety and reliability when deploying AI on dangerous equipment.
“The spread of AI models at every level of what we need is actually very good news,” Tricoire said.
His comments come shortly after Schneider Electric reported record sales and profits in 2024.
The company, which has been a big beneficiary of the artificial intelligence trend, raised its 2025 profit margin following robust fourth-quarter demand for data centers.
Shares of Schneider Electric rose 33% in 2024, following a 39% upswing in 2023. The Paris-listed stock is down around 7% year to date, however, with China’s recent AI push sparking concerns about AI investment and tech sector returns.
Data centers, which consume an ever-increasing amount of energy, represent a key piece of infrastructure behind modern-day cloud computing and AI applications.
— CNBC’s Ganesh Rao contributed to this report.
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