Charge up, coffee up: Starbucks, Volvo and ChargePoint to electrify route from Denver to Seattle

Is there some sort of affinity between coffee lovers and EV drivers? Does charging up your car somehow go along with charging up your body with caffeine? I don’t know folks, but I do know this: Starbucks has long offered EV charging at some of its stores, and now the chain, in partnership with Volvo Cars, is planning to install chargers along a 1,350-mile route between the hypercaffeinated cities of Denver and Seattle.

A Volvo charging at a ChargePoint stall in front of a Starbucks. Photo: ChargePoint

By the end of the year, up to 60 DC fast chargers, powered by ChargePoint (NYSE: CHPT), will be installed at some 15 Starbucks stores approximately every 100 miles along the route. Four charging stations have been installed at a Starbucks location in Provo, Utah, and future stations will be located in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

The public chargers will be open to all EV drivers for a fee. Owners of Volvo Cars will get access at no charge or at preferential rates.

“Access to EV charging should be as easy as getting a great cup of coffee—and now, it can be,” said Michael Kobori, Starbucks Chief Sustainability Officer.

“With Volvo and Starbucks, we’re creating a premium EV driving experience between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Northwest,” said Pasquale Romano, CEO of ChargePoint. “EV drivers will have the opportunity to quickly fuel their vehicles at Starbucks locations along one of America’s most scenic byways.”

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This article originally appeared in Charged. Author: Charles Morris. Source: ChargePoint