Trouble finding a charger for your new electric vehicle? Soon you won’t have to look that far. At least, not as long as there is a 7-Eleven nearby. The convenience store and gas station giant is looking to add EV charging to its refueling capabilities around the country (and Canada soon after).
It won’t be every location as the company’s announcement does state “select 7-Eleven stores”, but I’m sure it will eventually end up being at most or all of them eventually. Or maybe “select” means “any location that has its own (branded) gas station services. Regardless, this is going to add a lot of charging locations around the country. Something that is well-needed.
The new charging network is called “7Charge” and has already launched certain locations within Florida, Texas, Colorado, and California. It is a level 3 charging network and it comes with its own app that is used to control access to using one of these new spots, similar to any other proprietary charging network.
These new charging locations will support CHAdeMO and Combined Charging System (CCS) plug types, or any other vehicle as long as it has the ability to adapt to one of these (including Tesla vehicles).
You can also likely expect it to work side-by-side with the company’s 7Rewards loyalty program, but that is only our own prediction. I mean, it would only make sense for the company to allow charging visits to count toward your 7-Eleven reward points somehow. Maybe even allow you to redeem them for a charge at some point? The company hasn’t released anything about this just yet, but it will likely roll out additional information in the coming weeks when it’s ready.
Regardless, this is definitely something the EV world needs. There has been only a handful of gas stations to open EV charging services on their properties. Forcing drivers to sometimes drive to the most interesting (and sometimes awkward) spots at times. Like beaches, libraries, city service buildings (these are usually the worst as they likely dumb the charge rate down as much as possible), hotels, and casinos. If all gas stations decided to add fast-charging pumps to their services, slow/inconvenient charging would be a thing of the past.
Now if only we can move toward level 4 chargers being a thing for consumer vehicles (without blowing said vehicles up from the heat it would create). You can only imagine how quickly everyone’s charging experience would be.
As for 7Rewards, if you haven’t already (and you find yourself visiting 7-Eleven frequently), make sure to download their 7Rewards app so you can earn rewards every time. Also, you can receive 1,000 points to get free drinks & snacks right from the start by using the code c9gevo (hint hint). When you download the app and register, it will ask if you have a referral code (that is where to enter it).
1 Comment
We need to see this as long as it is the Tesla standard plug. We prob won’t see it build out too quickly until they can figure out even faster charging though. We need an 80% within 5 minutes. Then you will see these at every gas station.