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. Pilot is collaborating with General Motors and EV fast charging network EVgo on the project.
Electric vehicle (EV) charging may seem like a budding trend to consumers, but it’s anything but new to c-store operators. About 95% of U.S. fuel retailers surveyed said they’re currently offering or planning to offer EV charging stations, while 70% said they’re planning to expand their fuel network in the coming years, according to a 2022 study from Boston Consulting Group.
As the fuel landscape continues to evolve amid changing consumer habits and digital technologies, larger c-store chains are jumping at EV charging. Wawa began hosting EV charging at its stores in 2017, while 7-Eleven revealed plans in 2021 to develop at least 500 charging stations at 250 stores in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2022.
And during this summer, Circle K and Couche-Tard set a goal to have 200 charging sites by 2024, while Phillips 66 made its own plans to bring EV drivers to its stores.
In the project’s earliest phase, Pilot wanted to get ahead because it knew EVs were coming fast — and there was plenty to learn.
“‘There’s so much we don’t know’ — that was our thinking at the time,” said John Tully, VP of strategy and business development for Pilot. “The EV driver community is growing, and those are current and future customers of ours. We wanted to be part of that solution.”
At a time when many c-store chains are building hundreds of EV charging stations on site, Pilot’s initiative to have thousands signals an EV arms race taking shape in the c-store space.
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