Kwik Trip is installing DC fast chargers across the Midwest

Convenience store chain Kwik Trip is going to install DC fast chargers at “a number” of its stores across the Midwest.

Kwik Trip’s DC fast chargers

Kwik Trip announced yesterday that it was launching the Kwik Charge program in Wisconsin, which will install DC fast chargers with both CCS and NACS connectors.

Kwik Trip’s EV chargers are funded by National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program money, so they must be NEVI compliant.

That means they must be sited within one travel mile of the Alternative Fuel Corridor. EV charging stations must include at least four ports with connectors capable of simultaneously charging four EVs at 150 kilowatts (kW) each, with a total station power capacity of 600 kW or more.

The NEVI-funded charging stations must also have 24-hour public accessibility and provide amenities like restrooms, food and beverages, and shelter.

Kwik Trip is building an app using Driivz’s software so EV drivers can find Kwik Charge chargers and check charger availability and pricing.

Its first two EV charger stations will be completed in Ashland and West Salem, Wisconsin, by the end of October.

Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip is a family-owned company with more than 880 stores throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, South Dakota, and Illinois.

John McHugh, vice president for external relations at Kwik Trip, told Madison, Wisconsin’s The Cap Times in May that it wouldn’t be installing EV charging at every store in Wisconsin. He said:

Will this be the primary direction of our company? No, it won’t. Statistically, it doesn’t look like it is going to be a major factor. But for those guests that want it, that is really why we pursued it.

Electrek’s Take

Guests wanting to charge is probably part of why Kwik Trip pursued it. A major reason for installing EV charging stations in Wisconsin, which the company rather annoyingly doesn’t mention in its announcement, is that it received $8.1 million in NEVI funds in the state to install chargers at 24 of its locations.

Yet The Cap Times reports that “when it came to Senate Bill 792 – the one that allowed DOT to release the [NEVI] money – Kwik Trip spent more hours lobbying than any other group in the second half of 2023.”

So it seems that EV chargers at its Wisconsin stores were a bit more of a “major factor” than McHugh made them out to be.

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