Volvo And Starbucks Announce New EV Fast Charging Network

bogiesan · Sep 10, 2022

The sooner these 60 chargers go online, the better. I'll even buy stuff at Starbies if I can pull up to charger in the lot. Notice the plans bypass cities where, in theory, a CP fast charger already exists.
For those of you thinking about taking this Denver-to-Seattle roadtrip (which is a beautiful drive!), be aware that "Uintah, ID" is actually in the state of Utah, south of Ogden, north of Salt Lake City.
You could also take your chances making 195 miles from Provo to Moab where you can park and then catch the Rocky Mountaineer luxury train for a four- to six-day roundtrip to Denver.

bogiesan · Sep 11, 2022

Bristlecone said:
Great news, but distance between Grand Junction and Provo is 240 miles. And a lot of uphill in that segment.

The new fast Starbucks DC chargers are filling gaps in the network, implying there is already at least one ChargePoint L3 unit on the route. Guessing it will be in Gunnerson on the southern route or Green River on the eastern route. Nope. The ChargePoint app indicated Price UT (60-70 miles from Provo) has some L3 chargers. You will want to top it off, 160-180 miles to Grand Junction.

bogiesan · Jul 5, 2023

UPDATED as of 2023.07.05: Starbucks stores located in Hermiston and LaGrande, Oregon, have recently put their new Volvo-branded ChargePoint units online! Happened back in April and May this year. The first units went up in Provo, Utah, shortly after the original announcement in August, 2022. (I'm going to drive over to La Grande just so I can get a photo of my C40 with the branded charging pole.)

https://www.hermistonherald.com/hermiston-starbucks-ready-to-deliver-new-bolt-of-juice/article_b707cd2c-ddf2-11ed-b076-a306e29b005a.html

Find an EV Charger at Starbucks stores from Seattle to Denver

As part of our commitment to a sustainable future, Starbucks is working with Volvo Cars to install EV charging stations at Starbucks stores.

stories.starbucks.com

Uintah, Utah has announced their Volvo station is coming but has not updated the status since March:

Starbucks, Volvo team to install new EV charging station in Uintah area

UINTAH — With growing calls among some for increased use of electric cars, a pair of corporate giants have teamed to install a charging station in Weber County, aiming to make it easier for electric cars traveling the Denver-Seattle corridor. It’s one of scores of charging stations sprouting...

www.standard.net

Curiously, ChargePoint, Starbucks, and Volvo have not issued their own press releases or made a PR splash about any of these new chargers.

Here's the original list of proposed locations on this major western highway corridor linking Salt Lake City, Denver, Boise, and Seattle (online ChargePoint/Volvo/Starbucks units in bold=five locations, 20 poles).

Seattle, Wash. (unknown status)
Issaquah, Wash. (no progress)
Yakima, Wash. (no progress)
Hermiston, Ore. (listed as online)
La Grande, Ore. (listed as online)
Nampa, Idaho (no progress)
Twin Falls, Idaho (listed as online)
Unitah, Utah (status unkown)
Sandy, Utah (status unknown)
Provo, Utah (listed as online)
Grand Junction, Colo. (coming soon)
Glenwood Springs, Colo. (listed as online)
Silverthorne, Colo. (no progress)
Idaho Springs, Colo. (no progress)
Broomfield, Colo. (no progress)

bogiesan · Jul 5, 2023

Friend of ine sent photos of the Volvo/Starbucks charging station in La Grande OR. Like the photos I've seen of the other four online stations, the charging area is not covered but presumably it is well lit by the Starbies' parking lot illumination. There are no walls either so nothing to protect visitors and customers from the raging winds we can get around here.

bogiesan · Jul 20, 2023

Over on the FB, a contributor has psted photos of the new Starbucks/Volvo/ChargePoint installation in Broomfield, Colorado That makes six out of fifteen. Again, surious that no press releases have been issued by any the three companies. This newest station apparently is not listed as online and the photo implies it has not been commissioned yet.

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Seattle, Wash. (unknown status)
Issaquah, Wash. (no progress)
Yakima, Wash. (no progress)
Hermiston, Ore. (listed as online)
La Grande, Ore. (listed as online)
Nampa, Idaho (no progress)
Twin Falls, Idaho (listed as online)
Unitah, Utah (status unkown)
Sandy, Utah (status unknown)
Provo, Utah (listed as online)
Grand Junction, Colo. (coming soon)
Glenwood Springs, Colo. (listed as online)
Silverthorne, Colo. (no progress)
Idaho Springs, Colo. (no progress)
Broomfield, Colo. (completed but not commissioned)

bogiesan · Aug 9, 2023

Bumping this thread to see if BigVik has heard back from Volvo or if we have additional information about any of the remaining nine sites on the list.

bogiesan · Aug 14, 2023

Well, she's completely worthless. I got this today (with permission to publish publicly):

David: At this time we have 8 confirmed chargers online at the starbucks locations and the remaining 7 are planned to be completed and available by the end of this year. The ones that are open are as follows:

Glenwood Springs Colorado
Provo Utah
Sandy Utah
Uintah Utah [easily misspelled]
Twin Falls Idaho
La Grande Oregon
Hermiston Oregon
Seattle Washington
Med vänliga hälsningar!
Yours Sincerely,
Joseph
Volvo Specialist | Customer Care

This is a bit confusing because we have confirmation from a FB post that Broomfiled CO is also online, so that's nine out of the planned fifteen. I did not think to ask about how Volvo cars would be billed. The original press release implied Volvo EVs would charge for free at these Volvo-branded poles.

bogiesan · Aug 14, 2023

With new information from Volvo's media relations, here's the current list showing nine out of the total of fifteen STarbucks charging stations online and assurances that the corridor's resources should be completed, on schedule, by the end of 2023:

Seattle, Wash. (online)
Issaquah, Wash. (no progress)
Yakima, Wash. (no progress)
Hermiston, Ore. (online)
La Grande, Ore. (online)
Nampa, Idaho (no progress)
Twin Falls, Idaho (online)
Uintah, Utah (online)
Sandy, Utah (online)
Provo, Utah (online)
Grand Junction, Colo. (coming soon)
Glenwood Springs, Colo. (online)
Silverthorne, Colo. (no progress)
Idaho Springs, Colo. (no progress)
Broomfield, Colo. (completed but not yet commissioned)

If you are keeping score at home, these Volvo-branded ChargePoint units are 62kW poles. There are supposed to be four at each Starbies on the list. I do not know if they are double-cable nor do I know how power shareing is being handled. These fifteen stores are 100-200 miles apart along a part of the I-84 freeway corridor that starts in Denver CO, goes through Salt Lake City UT, Boise ID, and Yakima WA before ending in Seattle WA. While I could enjoy stopping at Starbies, especially if the charging was free, the difference between sucking up the kW at 150kW and 62kW could be ten hours ad I'd need 15-20 charging stops in the C40. However, all the routing and charging information I'm getting back form Maps, PlugShare, EA, and ABRP is weirdly conflicting. And none of the apps have these new Volvo poles in their inventories.

bogiesan · Aug 14, 2023

... and furthermore, none of the three companies is making any noise about these new chargers at all. For instance, if I search for "Starbucks/Volvo in Twin Falls ID" I get a radio station blurb from March 2022. The website dedicated to the Bridgeview Starbies in Twin Falls does not list EV charging as an amenity at their store. I don't get it. I'd be milking this thing at every opportuity but they seem to be waiting till the corridor is completely built out

Starbies, Twin Falls ID (charger or not?)
Local paper: Starbies chargers

bogiesan · Aug 15, 2023

Speculation on my part, I believe the three companies will have some massive PR event/announcement but not until the corridor is completely built out, tested, vetted. ChargePoint is looking to sell lots of corporate and truck stop-style charger. Starbucks wants you to buy coffee and pastries while you suck som kW. And Volvoe wants credit for the vision. There's a downside for us in the West being the launching pad for this ex[erimental network/corridor. We get older style and smaller poles while the second generation corridor benefits from all the screwups. I need to point out that siting 4x150+kW poles is far more complicated and expensive than siting 4x62.5kW poles. Order of magnitude more money and way more permitting and zoning stuff. The 62.5kW poles might be able to tap directly into the stores' existing commercial utility service while the larger charging units will require new electrical feeders and a huge transformer, assuming a nearby substation even has the capacity.

bogiesan · Aug 24, 2023

If you live in the West and you're keeping score at home, seems that some of the Volvo/Starbucks/ChargePoint installations are 2x125kW + 2x62kW while others are 4x62kW (I am guessing the lower capacity poles are in smaller towns or the result of engineering or permitting limitations at the sites).

If I try to plot a trip from Denver to Seattle, using various online planners, these new chargers do not always show up. However, I'm still trying to figure out hwo these apps work so I might not be hitting the right filters so sift for them.

bogiesan · Aug 24, 2023

santellavision said:
Not all the Starbucks/Volvo chargers are finished and on-line yet.

True, but I figured the units that are commissioned should appear in the databases for the route planning apps. Butt I may not understand the apps' interfaces and filters to display Volvo/Starbies properly. For instance, there is usually a filter for ChargePoint but that does not always show Starbucks stores that are known to have active CP poles.

I try to keep the list of Starbies chargers updated whenever I hear of one being built out or commissioned. I believe nine of the fifteen that were planned are now available with Glenwood Springs CO and Broomfield CO recently coming online. Here's the list as of a few weeks ago. If anyone has news about the others still in progress, let me know.

Seattle, Wash. (online)
Issaquah, Wash. (no progress)
Yakima, Wash. (no progress)
Hermiston, Ore. (online)
La Grande, Ore. (online)
Nampa, Idaho (no progress)
Twin Falls, Idaho (online)
Uintah, Utah (online)
Sandy, Utah (online)
Provo, Utah (online)
Grand Junction, Colo. (coming soon)
Glenwood Springs, Colo. (online)
Silverthorne, Colo. (no progress)
Idaho Springs, Colo. (no progress)
Broomfield, Colo. (completed but not yet commissioned)

bogiesan · Oct 2, 2023

2023.10.06 UPDATE with new information from VOLVO: I stumbled across an article in the Yakima WA newspaper indicating one of their Starbies stores commissioned their Volvo-branded 62kW charger bank. Nampa ID apparently is under construction or may also be online but not officially commissioned. I have not visited the store, even though it's only a 15 minute drive from my house. I'll get there soon. Volvo customer communications sent me this list indicating eleven of the fifteen stores have successfully installed their charger banks. Parties expect the entire route to be completed, commissioned, and heavily promoted by the end of 2023. I have family in Colorado Springs so Boise/Salt Lake City/Denver (and return) is a road trip I can actually look forward to driving next summer.

Seattle, Wash. (online)
Issaquah, Wash. (no progress)
Yakima, Wash. (online)
Hermiston, Ore. (online)
La Grande, Ore. (online)
Nampa, Idaho (under construction, maybe)
Twin Falls, Idaho (online)
Uintah, Utah (online)
Sandy, Utah (online)
Provo, Utah (online)
Grand Junction, Colo. (online)
Glenwood Springs, Colo. (online)
Silverthorne, Colo. (no progress)
Idaho Springs, Colo. (no progress)
Broomfield, Colo. (online)

bogiesan · Oct 7, 2023

No doubt the offender willl leave before she can be ticketed and you will get one for frivolous call.

bogiesan · Nov 15, 2023

Quick update, seems the Starbies in Nampa, Idaho, has commissioned their volvo-branded charging poles. I have not actually visited the store yet. No excuses, it's all of a fifteen minute drive. This is a press release, apparently from STarbucks HQ and does not include anything tangible about the Nampa store, no photos or video. Nampa Starbucks EV Chargers

bogiesan · Dec 5, 2023

Related news from PILOT, a company with hundreds of truck stop/travel plazas across the country (but just try to find out where the 17 EV sites are located):

Pilot Travel Centers LLC, General Motors and EVgo Make Convenient, Accessible Charging a Reality with Opening of First Stations in Coast-to-Coast EV Charging Network

/PRNewswire/ -- Pilot Travel Centers LLC, General Motors (NYSE: GM) and EVgo Inc. (NASDAQ: EVGO) today announced the opening of the first 17 locations of their...

www.prnewswire.com

bogiesan · Dec 5, 2023

BigVikC40Dadda said:
Where are these so called high speed chargers going to be located??

Yep, that was the silly part. There are no maps and, while the claim is made that all locations will be visible in several EV apps, I could not find a way to verify that.

Similar to the Starbucks/Volvo rollout, I do not understand why all of these companies are not making loud announcements.

bogiesan · Dec 6, 2023

You guys are going off into what could be a fascinating thread all about real world situations. I worked for an electric utility for four decades. Civilians do not understand the demands on infrastructure, zoning, right of way, or even how long it takes to acquire high capacity transformers and switching.

bogiesan · Dec 6, 2023

f1geek said:
Sure. Maybe someone can explain how Tesla built its network so fast and so powerful given these (seemingly insurmountable ?) roadblocks.

Good point.

I imagine money changing hands in back rooms followed by widespread pilfering of electrical hardware from utility stockpiles and laydown yards. The social engineering needed to obtain the stations' footprints must be almost as interesting as the effort to sell the vision to the internal staff who designed the network, created the charging poles, and then obtained the manufacturing resources.

Seriously, the stories of Tesla's rapid build-out of its proprietary charging outposts must be available somewhere. As fascinating and engaging as they may be, I've not been interested enough to look. I only care the Tesla system is going to be available for my C40 in a year or so.

bogiesan · Dec 6, 2023

But one needs to care about Tesla. I do not. If possible, I care even less about the Musk character. Only thing that matters to me is future access to the branded poles, for which I will gladly pay whatever they wish to charge me to charge.