[HN Gopher] Walmart to add EV charging to thousands of stores by...
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Walmart to add EV charging to thousands of stores by 2030
Author : ourmandave
Score : 35 points
Date : 2023-04-10 17:18 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.washingtonpost.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.washingtonpost.com)
| Apocryphon wrote:
| Hope they start supporting Pay while they're at it.
| bitwidget wrote:
| Honestly, I don't believe that Walmart has any plans to
| implement Apple Pay. They already have a mobile payment option
| in their app which requires an individual account. With a ton
| of their stores already using self checkout which you can use
| Walmart Pay at, I can see them pushing Walmart Pay to get
| people on the app, collect data (which aisles a user spends the
| most time in, what they buy, etc), and integrate that into
| their stores so they can start getting rid of one of their top
| "liabilities", employees.
| noloblo wrote:
| archive link unpaywall :
| https://archive.is/20230406132059/https://www.washingtonpost...
| andrewclunn wrote:
| I have seen the people who get EVs. I have seen the people who
| shop at Walmart. These people are not the same.
| starbase wrote:
| They will be the same people in the blink of an eye. It's
| almost a certainty.
| Casteil wrote:
| ...not until more EVs are available in the $20-30k price
| range. Most people can't afford new vehicles @ $30k+
| kcb wrote:
| No one at almost any income level buys small cheap $20k -
| $30k cars. They take out a loan to buy an F150, RAM, or
| midsized crossover. Or buy used.
|
| *In the US
| nojito wrote:
| Of course they do.
|
| That's why the Corolla is as popular as it is.
| kcb wrote:
| https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g39628015/best-selling-
| car...
|
| It's on the list sure, but no sedan is the massive
| mainstream seller that they used to be.
| prottog wrote:
| If we exclude the Big 3 pickups from this list due to the
| outsized impact of fleet purchases on those numbers, the
| Camry is the second-best selling car of 2022, behind the
| RAV4. Honestly, I'm impressed that the humble sedan is
| holding on as much as it is!
| bdcravens wrote:
| Pickups are common personal vehicles.
| ajford wrote:
| There's at least 5 models now in that range new, and the
| number of EV models now hitting that price range as pre-
| owned is increasing each year. People have been repeating
| the "there's no affordable evs" line so long it's now no
| longer true.
|
| https://www.truecar.com/best-cars-trucks/fuel-
| electric/price... https://www.kbb.com/best-cars/best-used-
| electric-cars-under-...
| starbase wrote:
| Subtract $7500 for the federal EV rebate and up to $7500
| for state rebates, and some buyers will see starting
| prices under $15k.
| hnburnsy wrote:
| Go ahead and click through, on that top 10 list, only the
| 2018 Tesla 3 actual had any availability for sale within
| 50 miles of my location.
| bdcravens wrote:
| Averages suggest otherwise: the average new car price in
| December was $49k, and the average Ford pickup was $66k.
|
| https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/01/the-average-new-car-
| pri...
|
| If you look at the top 25, many are over that $30k number:
|
| https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g39628015/best-selling-
| car...
| c0nfused wrote:
| Walmart recently signed a contract to buy a bunch of ev
| delivery vehicles. So worst case they can charge their own cars
| with them
| bdcravens wrote:
| Already happening: At many EA charging stations in Walmart
| parking lots, it's not uncommon to see 1 or 2 being taken up
| by Walmart delivery vehicles.
| melling wrote:
| Only 1.4 million people bought an iPhone in 2007.
|
| 20 million in 2009. Over 200 million in 2015.
|
| Now the numbers won't nearly be the same but hopefully it's
| enough to end this silly conversation.
|
| Here are some Tesla numbers that go back 7 years. Now add
| several car companies then extrapolate
|
| https://www.statista.com/statistics/502208/tesla-quarterly-v...
| beders wrote:
| There are already many Electrify America stations at Walmarts
| and - yes - it makes me shop @ Walmart and I get to experience
| all that weirdness. Over the last 2 years these charging spots
| went from "barely used" to "gotta get lucky to find a charger".
| hnburnsy wrote:
| Many people who like saving on gas, also like saving on
| groceries.
| yuppie_scum wrote:
| But Walmart has found a way to attract the EV owner, if they
| pull this off.
| ajford wrote:
| Or they're people who see the convenience and flexibility of an
| EV and are comfortable with purchasing a used EV.
|
| If you're not a Musk fan, the field is becoming competitive.
| There's a handful of models with 150+mi range that are in the
| <$30k USD bracket when new, and many models on the used market
| are now <$30k USD as well.
|
| And just because you are charging at WalMart doesn't mean you
| need to be shopping there on the regular.
|
| An EV fast-charger is not designed to be your neighborhood gas
| station, they're more like travel stops. Since most EVs will
| sit in a driveway for 8-10hrs a day, even a 120v charger should
| get you ~40 miles in that time frame. You should ideally be
| able to keep your vehicle topped up on Level 1 or Level 2
| (240v) charging and DC Fast Charging is more of a road-trip or
| extended range system.
|
| Most fast-charge capable cars can hit go from 10%-80% in 30-45
| minutes, which is a decent amount of time to hit a convenient
| Wal-Mart for travel snacks and leg stretching. It sounds like a
| valid idea when put that way.
| dzhiurgis wrote:
| > If you're not a Musk fan, the field is becoming competitive
|
| In my place you get 20% less for 10% more, but Tesla still
| looks flashy and I feel a bit like a wanker. Much worse for
| my partner who hoards free stuff, esp kids toys from giveaway
| FB groups :|
| uni_rule wrote:
| Funny how they still have an image issue related to being
| driven by rich vegans or whatever else people think of them
| they see them. It made more sense in 2014 when seeing a
| Model S was as exotic as seeing a McLaren. Now I am fairly
| desensitized to seeing Model 3's and Y's as commuter cars
| between NJ and NY and the merely seeing badge doesn't
| really do anything for me these days.
|
| It's weird how much a car's price and perceived price can
| vary when you actually look at how things depreciate.
| Seeing a Quattroporte and F-150 King Ranch next to each
| other and noting that used the Maserati is a $15k car and
| while the truck is nearly $75k is really odd. Teslas hardly
| depreciate at all through, so I guess that adds to it.
| lotsofpulp wrote:
| > Teslas hardly depreciate at all through, so I guess
| that adds to it.
|
| How can this be if the battery is a huge portion of the
| vehicle's cost and it has a limited lifetime?
| WorldMaker wrote:
| The battery's "limited lifetime" is currently longer than
| the expected lifespan of the car. The vast majority of EV
| batteries are still in "first use" and that is including
| more than a decade of Nissan Leafs (the model with the
| worst issues of battery "degradation" known to the used
| market). People are still driving the first and only
| battery of the car into a car's second decade (and likely
| will into its third, but it is too soon to tell).
| Statistically speaking, an EV is more likely to be
| totaled entirely in an accident than to have its battery
| replaced.
| bdcravens wrote:
| > Teslas hardly depreciate at all through,
|
| The price of used Teslas has plummeted by 20% in recent
| months.
|
| https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1139159_tesla-
| model-3-l...
| bdcravens wrote:
| Most Electrify America charging stations I've encountered are
| in Walmarts already.
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(page generated 2023-04-10 23:02 UTC)