Walmart to add EV charging to thousands of stores by 2030 | Hacker News Reader

Walmart to add EV charging to thousands of stores by 2030

washingtonpost.com

39 pointsourmandave33 comments

Hope they start supporting  Pay while they're at it.

archive link unpaywall : https://archive.is/20230406132059/https://www.washingtonpost...

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.

I have seen the people who get EVs. I have seen the people who shop at Walmart. These people are not the same.

They will be the same people in the blink of an eye. It's almost a certainty.

...not until more EVs are available in the $20-30k price range. Most people can't afford new vehicles @ $30k+

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-...

Subtract $7500 for the federal EV rebate and up to $7500 for state rebates, and some buyers will see starting prices under $15k.

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.

Conversely, only the e-golf and Fiat are unavailable within 50 miles of my location in Central Texas. All others have 4-10 vehicles available in my area.

The e-golf and fiat are available delivered if I was really dead-set on those.

None of that negates my point in any way.

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

Of course they do.

That’s why the Corolla is as popular as it is.

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.

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!

Pickups are common personal vehicles.

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...

Walmart recently signed a contract to buy a bunch of ev delivery vehicles. So worst case they can charge their own cars with them

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.

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.

> 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 :|

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.

> 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?

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.

Engines have limited lifetime too, but I get your concern. Most people's experience with Li-ion batteries is portable electronics that are designed to last 5 years or so. EV batteries are designed (and their charge state managed) to last much longer.

As a rule of thumb, the battery in a long range EV (NMC or NCA chemistry) will have 70% of its original range after 1200 full charge cycles (charging 0-100% 1200 times, or charging 25-75% 2400 times) So a car with 350mi range when new will have 245 mile range after about 400,000 miles.

EVs with lithium-iron batteries (LFP chem) have shorter range (250 miles or so) but they can do about 3000 cycles or 700,000 miles before their range falls to 70%, or 175 miles. Still potentially useful, depending on how far you need to go.

I would imagine most of the EVs on the road today will succumb to rust or collisions before their battery gives out.

> 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...

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".

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...

But Walmart has found a way to attract the EV owner, if they pull this off.

Many people who like saving on gas, also like saving on groceries.

Most Electrify America charging stations I've encountered are in Walmarts already.

You ever been at a ElectrifyAmerica station?

Which is why they're adding the chargers. To add a new swath of potential customers. They don't need to advertise with existing customers. Those customers aren't going anywhere.

Right now EVs are expensive and charging stations are everywhere.

Cheap and easy always seems to win over any kind of politics or love of a certain type of real product.

Right now, you buy EVs because you care about the environment or want people to think you do, or because you're a tech enthusiast, but everyone else seems to have some sentimentality for gas engines.

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