Charge your EV while shopping at Walgreens

Charge your EV while shopping at Walgreens

Walgreens, the biggest national pharmacy chain in the United States, will soon be the newest location to charge an electric vehicle. By the end of 2011 around 800 EV charging stations will be installed at Walgreens across the country.

These stations will have the capability of charging both standard 240 volt and the new high-speed direct 300-600 volt chargers. The company says this will enable heavy-hitters like the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf, as well as low speed electric vehicles like golf carts, to collect some extra juice while their owners are inside shopping.

The expected 800 charging stations will be spread out across Boston, Denver, New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Other Walgreens locations in Florida, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington will also have charging stations.

The installation of some EV stations has already begun at more than 60 stores in Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago. The high speed stations can add up to 30 miles to the range of an electric car in 10 minutes of charging. The Level 2 charge can tack on 25 more miles to the overall range on an hours worth of charging.

Walgreens isnt the first business to add electric vehicle charging stations. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store introduced charging stations at 24 locations in Tennessee late last year and numerous efforts are in place across the country to build an EV charging infrastructure, funded by federal and state monies.

The Cracker Barrel EV charge spots are located in Chattanooga and other locations along The Tennessee Triangle, a 425 mile highway that connects Chattanooga with Knoxville and Nashville, home to Nissan USA headquarters, which produces the all-electric Nissan Leaf.