Phillips 66 kicks off EV charging push at flagship station in Houston

Dive Brief:

Phillips 66 has installed its first ultrafast electric-vehicle (EV) chargers at its flagship fuel station near its headquarters in Houston, in what is the first ultrafast EV charging location at a gas and convenience store in the city, according to a Monday news release.
The charging station was built and installed by manufacturer FreeWire Technologies. The two companies partnered up earlier this year as Phillips 66 looked to debut its first EV-charging program in the U.S.
Although Phillips 66 hasn’t specified exactly how many locations it will bring EV charging to, the company said it will take advantage of the network of roughly 7,000 U.S. locations it supplies fuel to as it rolls out its program, according to the announcement.

Dive Insight:

Bringing ultrafast EV chargers to its store network reflects Phillips 66’s goal to reduce its environmental footprint, according to the announcement. The company currently bases its Emerging Energy and Sustainability business strategy on four pillars: renewable fuels, batteries, carbon capture and hydrogen.

“The installation of the first FreeWire EV chargers at our Phillips 66 flagship fuel station represents an important step in our EV charging journey as well as our commitment to pursue lower-carbon solutions,” Rod Palmer, VP of U.S. Marketing for Phillips 66, said in the announcement.

Phillips 66 is using FreeWire’s battery-integrated Boost Charger, which comes in two models: Boost Charger 150 and Boost Charger 200, which add up to 100 miles per 10 minutes of charging and 200 miles per 15 minutes of charging, respectively.

Phillips 66 did not specify which of the two chargers it’s rolling out at its sites, but said the chargers are the first commissioned FreeWire chargers in Texas.

FreeWire is no stranger to bringing its technology to the c-store industry. The manufacturer has worked with BP’s U.K. division since 2018, and as of 2020, BP had invested $50 million into bringing FreeWire’s charging stations to its operations across the U.K.

Phillips 66 debuting its EV-charging stations in the U.S. continues what’s shaping up to be an EV-arms race in the c-store industry. Last year, 7-Eleven revealed plans to develop at least 500 charging stations at 250 stores in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2022, while Circle K and Couche-Tard set a goal of having 200 charging sites by 2024. In one of the most ambitious EV initiatives the c-store industry has seen to date, the Pilot Company announced in July that it’s building a network of 2,000 fast charging stations across 500 of its U.S. travel centers and expects the first chargers to be ready for use in early 2023.