Walmart EV Charging Network to Blanket US. First Charge Experience & Review

[RickLightning]

Anyone know the filter for this in plugshare There is no Walmart under network.

There is no filter for it.

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[electricpig]

Anyone know the filter for this in plugshare There is no Walmart under network.

There are just a few sites currently that WM owns, so probably be a while before there is a filter. So far there are two Arkansas sites, and two Texas sites that are live. Several more in construction in DFW area, and soon to be Phoenix are the reports. Beyond that, anybody that knows aren't talking.

 

[WilliamRobert]

Can you imagine the increase in charging availability if Family Dollar Stores offered EV charging?

 

[Mmiketa]

Walmart locations are certainly not 'permanent', at least forever, as our town's version was more in the 'center' of things, for it's 20 year lease, then moved to a new 'out of town' location that now draws all the flies and other stores and businesses...

Walmart's have certainly moved for many towns just because it is the nature of the business: Leases expire.
Business 'moves' in a different direction.
Buildings get old.
Remodeling is no longer a great option.
A 'regular' Walmart transformed to a 'Super' Walmart, etc.

I can almost assure you that the majority of Walmarts will never stay in the same location for 100 years, just because that's where they started. Things change. So do they.

Our very small town was honored to have one of the first, and the very FEW, Walmart Markets... a tiny 'dollar general' sized Walmart, even with a Pharmacy, and GAS PUMPS.

That didnt' work well for Walmart. The 13 around the southeast were shuttered back many years ago.
I can bet that almost EVERY ONE of those, without skipping a beat, are now the ONLY Dollar General stores that pump gas. : ) Love um! Failure for Walmart. A WIN for Dollar General.

I have a Walmart Neighborhood market across the street form me and it seems to be thriving. Definitely have not shut them all down, mine does not have a gas pump though...not that I need it lol.

 

[ThunderSnoww]

I wonder about a group of businesses working with a small town together setting up charging and business/restaurants/local attractions hub as an incentive for EV drivers to pull off the hwy and stop/charge/spend/see - ie give an EV driver an incentive to stop at your town, instead of the next hwy supercharger location.

The RedE network is relatively dense in Lower Michigan (both L2 & DC), and based on some of their EVSE located in smaller/rural towns, embedding in small downtown areas appears to be part of their business strategy (or it's just a convenient coincidence). Now, if they could modernize their app to filter by DC-only stalls, I'd be much happier.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I have a Walmart Neighborhood market across the street form me and it seems to be thriving. Definitely have not shut them all down, mine does not have a gas pump though...not that I need it lol.

I'm not referring to 'Neighborhood Markets' under the Walmart banner, but one of a very small and unique try back in the mid-2000's for small rural towns that had little to no other 'grocery' store or chains, like ours. These were referred to as 'Mini-Walmarts', or, specifically, "EXPRESS Walmarts", and are now all 'Dollar General' stores, and the only ones that pump gas.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/losing-mini-walmarts-puts-big-hurt-on-small-towns/

 

[itdwebman]

The Walmarts in NH have not added EV chargers - hope this happens

 

[TaxmanHog]

The Walmarts in NH have not added EV chargers - hope this happens

Love to see one at the Epping location, not far from the race track in the direction I could travel by if needed.

 

[CD4TNF]

I spoke with folks interested in EVs at Drive Electric Month events this past month. People really liked the idea that Walmart is getting chargers. The whole charging while shopping made sense to them.

 

[RickLightning]

I spoke with folks interested in EVs at Drive Electric Month events this past month. People really liked the idea that Walmart is getting chargers. The whole charging while shopping made sense to them.

As long as idle fees exist, that's great. Unfortunately, too many think they can go shop for an hour during a 30 minute charge session, when there is no penalty for doing so.

 

[Firn]

As long as idle fees exist, that's great. Unfortunately, too many think they can go shop for an hour during a 30 minute charge session, when there is no penalty for doing so.

Agreed, BUT, that really only matters if there is a queue from all spots being full.

 

[chl]

Since Walmart announced this in 2024 (or was it 2023), I don't know what's "exclusive".

Here's a guy with updates starting in Jan 2024...

Yes there was a press announcement in 2023, and again in 2024...it's now 2025 and no roll-out of more than the pilot test sites so far...what are they waiting for?

The original plan was to include CHADEMO but that's been eliminated according to the new State of Charge video.

Maybe the roll out will speed up now that the Fed's are axing the subsidizing of EV chargers apparently.

Thousands "by 2030" is the goal, but...I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

I would think the best case for Walmart to see EV's charging is someone on a road trip, wants to stop for a charge and meal or pick up supplies they need. Not really the place for shopping an hour for groceries - well unless they can't home charge for some reason.

I can't think of anyone I know with an EV and No way to charge at home.

A lady saw me charging a few weeks ago near a Walmart near my town, she asked me about EV's in general because she was thinking about a new car, but she said she lives in an aptment building with no set parking, no where to plug in that she knew of in the apartment parking lot.

I suggested she do some checking first, but she may be better off with a hybrid in her situation and our winters up here...without home charging the math doesn't work out anywhere near the same for an EV.

 

[chl]

I pride myself on NEVER having entered a Walmart. (Why? I don't like how Walmart has killed so many "down towns" across America.) UNTIL I needed to stop at a Walmart to use up some EA credit. I admit I DID enter the Walmart, but only to use the bathroom (which is nicely at the front of the store.)

I think AMAZON and other on-line market places may have done more than Walmart in that regard, but maybe it's a toss up? Who needs to go to a shopping mall when there is Amazon Prime with free delivery - the malls are closing.

One stop shopping is simply more convenient, and volume selling means lower prices are possible, and the consumer benefits.

When the 5 and dime store format came along (decades ago), a lot of small businesses that specialized in a particular thing lost out.

When cars came along, blacksmiths lost a lot of business.

When EV's are the norm, hopefully gas stations and oil companies will go out of business.

Change happens.

Those who can't compete and/or adapt fail.

We shouldn't fault businesses for giving people what they want.

When Home Depot and Lowes came along (and did a better job at it than Hechingers) it took a lot of business away from small hardware stores and lumber yards and other supply houses. When they began selling appliances, they put Sears stores out of business, now Sears exits pretty much only on-line in many areas.

When Netflix and other streaming services came along, movie theater attendance fell. I still like seeing a movie at a theater on a big screen, but hate missing parts because of a trip to the bathroom, or two. COVID stopped my movie going in it's tracks.

Before I became an engineer and patent attorney, I played drums in a number of local bands. Live music was a hopping thing. Then disco came along. Ouch! But I have to admit that going to a disco and dancing was fun, and I could see why people and clubs went there.

As far as I am concerned, if I were going to fast charge, I would much rather give my money to Walmart than Tesla as long as Musk is the CEO anyway.

To each his own.

 

[chl]

Walmart locations are certainly not 'permanent', at least forever, as our town's version was more in the 'center' of things, for it's 20 year lease, then moved to a new 'out of town' location that now draws all the flies and other stores and businesses...

Walmart's have certainly moved for many towns just because it is the nature of the business: Leases expire.
Business 'moves' in a different direction.
Buildings get old.
Remodeling is no longer a great option.
A 'regular' Walmart transformed to a 'Super' Walmart, etc.

I can almost assure you that the majority of Walmarts will never stay in the same location for 100 years, just because that's where they started. Things change. So do they.

Our very small town was honored to have one of the first, and the very FEW, Walmart Markets... a tiny 'dollar general' sized Walmart, even with a Pharmacy, and GAS PUMPS.

That didnt' work well for Walmart. The 13 around the southeast were shuttered back many years ago.
I can bet that almost EVERY ONE of those, without skipping a beat, are now the ONLY Dollar General stores that pump gas. : ) Love um! Failure for Walmart. A WIN for Dollar General.

Here in Northern Virginia, Walmart bought the land in 1987 or so that used to be a K-mart and a putt-putt golf course and built a brand new store and parking lot, a big parking lot, with EA chargers in one corner.

It is in Hybla Valley on Rt 1 between Ft Belvoir army base and Alexandria Virginia and a few mile beyond Alexandria, Washington DC, so it is on a major commuter route, as well as east coast traffic going north and south (Maine to Florida) parallel to I-95. So it seems it would be a good location for fast chargers.

Many of the communities nearby are apartments or townhouse with little ability to have home charging, although recent regulations have forced some HOAs to allow charger installation.

Around here there is a plethora of Teslas, and plenty of Lightnings, I saw an old Fisker Karma the other day, and have spotted a Rivian and a Lucid or two as well as other EVs. I have only seen 2 grey Cybertrucks and one wrapped one - didn't help much with the look - around here.

I once ventured into the Hybla Valley Walmart to look for a grocery item and was pleasantly surprised. Many of the items I used to find at Safeway or Shoppers Food Warehouse but they have dropped I found at Walmart.

The Walmart is right next door to a COSTCO which also does a brisk business. When we need gas for our Prius Hybrid, COSTCO has the best price.

Walmart has made a commitment to energy efficiency having solar panels up at over 200 stores - unfortunately they had Solar City/Tesla do the installations and at least 7 fires have resulted (Walmart is suing Tesla):

"...A 2017 report by NREL, for instance, found that only 5 out of 10,000 solar panels developed faults - that is just 0.05 percent. And those are faults of any kind - panels that actually catch on fire would likely be an even tinier percentage of that tiny percentage.

Compare these figures with the fact that 2.9% of Tesla’s solar systems on Walmart’s roofs are going up in flames (i.e. 7 out of 240), and it is clear that Tesla’s fail rate is not just unusual, but shockingly high..." [in the suit] Walmart notes that “Tesla routinely deployed individuals to inspect the solar systems who lacked basic solar training and knowledge...”

(Possibly the same poorly trained goofballs and hackers in DOGE mucking around with Government systems?)

https://www.solarreviews.com/blog/solar-home-energy-news-walmart-tesla-solar-panel-fire

Anyway, I can see how a Walmart in a small town rural area might not be a good thing or a good business idea. But in more developed areas like big city suburbs, they seem to thrive.

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