Stewart’s Shops to debut ‘hybrid’ EV-charging station

Dive Brief:

Stewart’s Shops will debut its first “hybrid” EV fast charging station at its newly remodeled convenience store in South Potsdam, New York.
The charging station will include four Tesla Fast chargers and four New York Power Authority (NYPA) fast chargers. The Tesla chargers will be available this month while the others will be offered in spring 2023.
Stewart’s store in South Potsdam is the company’s first location to combine Tesla charging stations and non-Tesla charging stations, the retailer said in a statement.

Dive Insight:

This isn’t Stewart’s first rodeo with EV charging. In New York, the c-store chain already offers non-Tesla EV charging stations at stores in Moreau, Clifton Park, Latham and Keene, while Tesla charging stations can be found at Stewart’s stores in Ballston Spa, Chestertown, Clinton Corners and East Rutland.

Stewart’s continues the trend of c-store chains launching their own EV-charging initiatives, as Wawa, 7-Eleven, Circle K, Phillips 66 and Pilot have all announced major plans to build chargers within the past few years. Requests have been made for businesses to receive government incentives to build EV-charging stations, and just last week, the Biden administration approved electric vehicle charging network plans submitted by 35 states, which includes $5 billion in funding over a five-year period to install chargers across 53,000 miles of U.S. highways.

Stewart’s did not respond by press time to a request for more information on its new charging station of EV-charging initiatives.

NYPA chargers let drivers charge their vehicle in 15 to 30 minutes at charging speeds up to 350 kilowatts (kw). Meanwhile, Tesla Fast chargers — also known as Superchargers — can add up to 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes at up to 250kw.

Stewart’s remodeled its store in South Potsdam in late June and officially reopened it on Sept. 16. Besides the EV-charging station, the store features all the amenities of a Stewart’s Shop, including a covered porch area with outdoor seating, a food bar and a beverage bar.

In the announcement, Stewart’s also said it will open a new c-store this October in North Potsdam. The company currently operates about 350 stores in upstate New York and southern Vermont.