Dive Brief:
- Global Partners activated its first company-owned electric vehicle charging station on Tuesday, according to a press release from the company.
- The site, at an XtraMart at 280 Providence St. in Worcester, Massachusetts, includes two ChargePoint chargers that were built with help from National Grid and Massachusetts state incentives. Up to four cars can charge at the site at once.
- In addition to the XtraMart location, Global Partners has EV charging stations at two Alltown Fresh sites, a company spokesperson confirmed in an email.
Dive Insight:
Global Partners joins companies like 7-Eleven in owning some or all of their own EV charging infrastructure, which can cost more up front but allows for higher profit margins.
Other companies, like Stewart’s Shops, focus entirely on hosting chargers owned by other companies.
Global Partners plans to open more company-owned EV charging sites, though further details on specific sites were not immediately available.
Eric Slifka, CEO of Global Partners, said in the company’s May earnings call that it plans to add EV charging to six Alltown Fresh sites, as well as all newly built Alltown Fresh locations.
In addition to the company-owned site, an Alltown Fresh in Ayer, Massachusetts, features chargers owned by Enel X, an Italian energy company, while an Alltown Fresh in Plymouth, Massachusetts, uses chargers owned by Electrify America, a Reston, Virginia-based EV charging company, the spokesperson said. The Ayer site also includes a solar canopy that plugs into battery storage for the EV charger.
“The future of transportation is multi-fueling and an avenue to help decarbonize,” said Slifka. “We imagine our future retail station will be a place where folks can charge their EV, fill up their traditional gas tank while offsetting their carbon footprint.”
To help pay for the project, Global Partners took part in both the Massachusetts Electric Vehicle Incentive Program, which provides grants for EV chargers, and the National Grid’s Electric Vehicle Charging Station Make-Ready Program, which helps fund infrastructure upgrades.
In May, Slifka noted that Global Partners has had difficulty turning a profit on EV chargers without grants and other government funding.
Waltham, Massachusetts-based Global Partners operates more than 350 convenience stores on the East Coast under brands including Alltown Fresh, XtraMart, Honey Farms and Jiffy Mart. The retailer also supplies fuel to about 1,700 locations in 12 states.
