Electrify American on Tuesday announced it will install DC fast-charging stations at five Costco locations as part of the retailer's return to electric vehicle charging.
The rollout includes Costco stores in Clermont, Florida, and Denver, Colorado, which will receive six chargers, as well as three locations in California, according to a press release. A Costco in Loomis, in the northern part of the state, is expected to get 14 chargers, while stores in Pleasanton and Sacramento will get 10 chargers each.
Costco adds Electrify America DC fast chargers
The 350kw chargers will be integrated into the Electrify America network, allowing drivers to find and pay for charging times through the Electrify America app, but prices will be set by Costco.
Costco occasionally offers deals on electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, and was one of the first big-box stores to install Level 2 AC chargers in some locations, back in the 1990s. However, the company pulled the plug on those early chargers in 2011 and 2012 and recently started adding EV charging back.
Costco
The first Costco-branded DC fast charger opened in a new warehouse store in Ridgefield, Washington, in October. The station was installed by Electric Era at a time when the company said there were seven weeks left from the signing of the contract to its opening. That's amazing compared to the Tesla Supercharger network.
It's unclear whether Costco will continue to work with both Electric Era and Electrify America, or perhaps invite more companies to bring EV charging to its stores. But Electrify America is likely to use a major retail partner to take on Walmart, which in 2023 signaled it was breaking away from the charging network with an announcement that it would switch to its own EV charging network.
Meanwhile, Costco on Tuesday announced a partnership where customers in 48 US cities can buy new Hyundai vehicles from their local dealer directly on Amazon. With an initial emphasis on electric vehicles, the partnership may encourage another wave of attention to charging infrastructure.