Stop & Shop to add 50 electric vehicle charging stations at stores

Stop & Shop plans to have more than 50 electric vehicle charging stations from Volta Industries at stores across its Northeastern market by the end of this year.

So far, five Volta Charging EV stations have been deployed outside Stop & Shop supermarkets in East Brunswick, N.J.; Walpole, Mass.; Morris Plains, N.J.; Willimantic, Conn.; and Pawtucket, R.I., Stop & Shop said Tuesday. Another 50 EV stations are slated to roll out to stores in 2021 and, to facilitate customer access, plans call for two charging stations at each store. Use of the EV stations is free.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Volta Charging and offer our customers the benefit of electric vehicle charging at no cost,” Stop & Shop President Gordon Reid said in a statement. “Providing this convenience allows us to do more than make things easier for our customers. It allows us to also make things better for the environment.”

To charge up, customers with electric vehicles park in designated spaces and connect to the Volta station, and they can shop while they recharge. Volta charging stations — featuring large, high-resolution, two-sided digital displays playing media content — can provide up to 30 miles of range per hour on average, Stop & Shop reported.

“We’re proud to expand our partnership with Stop & Shop to provide greater access to open, reliable and convenient charging infrastructure as we see the shift in electric mobility,” commented Scott Mercer, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Volta. “Volta Charging’s mission is to offer reliable fueling solutions for drivers at the places they visit daily. Working with Stop & Shop allows us to do just that and help drivers fuel where they already go.”

Related:Giant Food rolls out electric vehicle charging stations

Giant Food last week added a Volta charging station in Upper Marlboro, Md., and now has over 20 of the units at stores in the state.

Overall, Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop, part of Ahold Delhaize USA, operates more than 400 stores in five states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.

Another Ahold grocery chain, Landover, Md.-based Giant Food, has been working with Volta as well. More than 20 Giant stores in Maryland have added Volta EV charging stations, most recently at Giant’s store in Upper Marlboro last week. In mid-June, Volta reached 100 charging stations in the state.

“We now have 74 Volta kiosks installed at Giant Food locations across our market area,” Giant Food President Ira Kress stated at the time. The chain has 164 supermarkets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia. “As part of our continued sustainability commitments, we are furthering our actions to reduce carbon emissions through our business practices and key partnerships. We are happy to partner with Volta to provide on-site charging options for our EV customers and a quick, convenient, and complimentary service that supports their personal efforts to live more sustainably.”

Related:Whole Foods adds Blink electric vehicle charging stations

Volta EV stations have been installed at Safeway's Renton, Wash., store and Vons' Lakewood, Calif., location.

Also deploying Volta EV stations at stores is supermarket giant Albertsons Cos. The Boise, Idaho-based grocer’s Safeway banner has 24 Volta charging stations in Washington state, with the latest units installed at the chain’s store in Renton. Under a partnership with Volta and Southern California Edison (SCE), Albertsons also has added EV stations at its Vons supermarket in Lakewood, Calif., where the units’ displays play digital media content for SCE’s advertising campaign on the benefits of driving electric vehicles.