Did you know that 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart? That’s a wild fact, and it speaks to how ubiquitous the big box retailer is. Did you know that one of the fastest growing charging networks in the United States is also Walmart? The Morning Dump is getting Socratic this morning because I have a lot of questions, and the answer to those questions appears to be Walmart.
Bill Clinton once famously said that there’s nothing wrong with this country that can’t be fixed with what’s right with this country, and the poignant irony of Walmart being the potential savior of the electrification project in America isn’t lost on me. Maybe the same can be said for Ford, which joined GM in having another good quarter (well, if you overlook the EV writedown) thanks to what it does well: trucks and SUVs.
BMW’s position has been a little shakier lately, and the company will join its German competitors in cutting back jobs. The difference, it seems, is that BMW is focusing its workforce changes more on managers than workers. Audi, more than almost any German automaker, is hurting, and last night it debuted a new vehicle it hopes will help turn things around in the United States.
Wally World To The Rescue
I will admit that, as a city-dweller, I gave into a sort of kneejerk anti-big box phase in my youth, with Walmart as the biggest target due to its success. Mostly, I viewed it as a symptom of a larger move towards sprawl and lower-density development. The hollowing out of American industry and the related China Shock can also be, in part, connected with the achievements of Walmart as pointed out in this interview with MIT Economist David Autor:
In the case of the China Shock, the benefits were experienced by hundreds of millions of people—everyone who shopped at Walmart, for example. The costs were experienced by only a few million people, but their losses were in no sense commensurate with the gains they got from lower prices. You can’t be like, oh, sure, I have no job anymore, but I can get a big TV.
The past cannot be changed, so we can only look to the future. Electrification is a net good for society, and certainly helps with local emissions (to say nothing of the impact on global weather). Walmart is helping with this, as it’s rapidly expanding its rollout of Walmart-branded EV chargers to its stores as my buddy Kyle Stock at Bloomberg notes:
“They’re steamrolling,” said Bill Ferro, cofounder of Paren, a charging consultancy. “It’s the right time to do this and they’ve got the right locations.”
Through June this year, Walmart opened about 46 high-speed public charging stations with 380 cords, according to the US Department of Energy. All told, there are now EV chargers at about 326 of Walmart’s 4,600 or so US stores, and Paren estimates another 300 or so stations are under construction.
Walmart declined to answer questions or provide any detail on how much more charging it will build, but acknowledged in a statement that it has one of the critical ingredients in an electric pump empire: scads of valuable and widespread real estate.
“Our broad footprint positions us to make EV charging more accessible for communities while expanding the way we serve customers,” a Walmart spokesperson wrote via e-mail.
I don’t live within 10 miles of a Walmart. I checked. I’m 13 miles away as the crow flies, but the crow doesn’t have to cross the George Washington Bridge. I do live close to a Costco and frequently use it as a gas station, and now I’m wishing we had a Walmart close by to act as an EV charging station.
Much like Costco subsidizes the cost of fuel through lower margins in order to encourage you to come into the store, buy things, and get a membership, Walmart is basically doing the same. While you charge your car or truck at Walmart it’s going to be very hard not to want to go inside and buy something. The company, similar to Aldi in Europe, is offering cheaper charging than average, with the lowest-cost charging reserved for Walmart members.
To be super cliché, what many people view as a bug (charging speeds), retailers like Walmart view as a feature.
Because many Walmarts are in more rural or suburban areas with historically mediocre charging options, these Walmart fast chargers could encourage more people who cannot charge at home to charge-at-store. Somewhat presciently, our former contributor Kevin Williams suggested this as the most obvious outcome in a piece for us a few years ago.
Walmart isn’t alone in offering chargers, it’s just doing this at an accelerated speed as it seems to be trying to take advantage of a lull in rollouts from many other companies.
Update: In Discord, TheSpaceCadet pointed out you can track the rollout of Walmart chargers on this site, which is cool.
Ford Loses Money, But It’s Good News
GM reported a strong Q2 last week as the automaker rolled forward with a mix of EVs, trucks, and more affordable vehicles than people tend to remember. Ford also had a good Q2, even though it lost money on paper.
Overall, Q2 revenue was down about $1.9 billion to $48.3 billion, leading to a net loss of $1.3 billion. So why is the stock going up? That $1.3 billion year-over-year loss was better than last year’s $2.6 billion loss, and reflects about $4.2 billion in “special item charges” related mostly to Ford scrapping a bunch of EV projects. Take away those special charges and the company made a couple billion dollars.
Overall, the company thinks it’s going to make more money than originally planned and have more cash, which investors like.
“We delivered another strong quarter and raised our full-year guidance, but the more important story is the growing evidence that Ford is becoming a more profitable, more disciplined and genuinely different company,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley. “Our iconic trucks, off-roaders and hybrids are commanding real pricing power; our quality is now industry-leading in the U.S.; and profitable new adjacencies, such as Ford Energy, are opening fresh sources of growth.”
Barring any surprise fires, Ford also expects the F-150 production woes to get wrapped up soon, too.
BMW Is Reportedly Focusing Its Cuts On Managers
While BMW has seemingly weathered the disruptions in the car industry better than its rivals, it isn’t immune to them either. The company is looking to cut its workforce, though, curiously, Manager Magazin (which has a vested interest in managers, being a publication expressly for them) is reporting that the new boss Milan Nedeljković is aiming right for the middle.
The chain of command at BMW is clearly defined. Below the seven-member board of management, responsible for production, development, sales, purchasing, finance, and human resources, the automaker is divided into almost 70 divisions with their respective main departments, numerous sub-departments, and various group levels. In total, the DAX-listed company employs almost 12,600 managers across four management levels, with a global workforce of 155,000.
Too much, according to Milan Nedeljković (57) – and at all levels. As manager magazin learned from insiders, the new CEO intends to drastically streamline BMW’s management structure. The number of divisions could be reduced by up to 20 percent, with several units being merged. More than a dozen division heads would become redundant. Further down the hierarchy, BMW would also need far fewer heads of main departments, department heads, and group leaders. The company initially declined to comment. A spokesperson merely confirmed upcoming “personnel restructuring measures.”
Having worked his way up through middle management at the company, Nedeljković has a better view than most CEOs of the way his company operates and where there might be inefficient operations.
Hey, Look, It’s A Big Audi
Audi had a big event in New York last night to show off the new Audi SQ9, which is the company’s first really big three-row SUV. This is sort of the state of thinking at Audi right now, which has been tossed by lower demand for EVs, weakness in the Chinese market, and tariffs.
It’s an answer to the question: What if Audi took the Q7 and just made it bigger? Here’s how Audi describes it:
Audi today debuted its first-ever SQ9, a spacious three-row SUV built for the U.S. market and the performance halo for the brand’s full-sized SUV flagship Q9 model family. Delivering 591 hp (441 kW) and best-in-class 0-60 mph acceleration in 3.8 seconds, effortless performance comes standard in the SQ9. Launching in the fourth quarter of 2026, the Q9 and SQ9 represent a focused commitment to deliver a vehicle designed to meet the needs of U.S. buyers as well as those seeking a prestigious flagship SUV with effortless performance.
Dealers will probably be happy to have something to finally compete with the GLS, Navigator, X7, et cetera. The price of the regular Q9 will start at $87,700 and the SQ9 will begin at $118,000.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Ben Folds Five, the trio, just hit the 30th anniversary of its first album (the one that didn’t have “Brick” or “Army” on it). There are so many great songs on this album, but I’m partial “Underground” for its Laura Nyro-esque piano flourishes and, c’mon, the hilarious backing vocals from Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee. Hand me my nose ring, show me to the mosh pit!
The Big Question
Man, that is a 1995-ass song. What is the most 1995-coded car?
Top photo: Walmart
I had to kill over an hour waiting to get my dog into the vet the other day. Across the street from the vet was a supermarket with two EV chargers in the corner of the parking lot. The whole time I was there, there were never less than a half dozen EVs waiting to use the two chargers.
This explains why the Mexican food truck with a non-seafood combo plate for $27. that has been located near the chargers for several years manages to stay in business I suppose.
It’s actually really easy, because I hate that awful place, and never want to enter a Walmart. I don’t really even like the idea of charging at one, I’ll probably avoid it at all costs.
Walmart’s exist in the places that have posed challenges to EV drivers. I was just in a part of WV that is popular with suburban MD/VA/PA crowds for camping/hiking/skiing/climbing and until recently has been mostly off limits to EV drivers.
In a weird way, Walmart can help bring some money back into areas that it once helped hollow out.
Walmart local to me (SuperWalmart!) has had fast EV chargers since before I got an EV. Every time I stopped there to charge I never once entertained the thought of walking a quarter mile across the parking lot to get anything. I just sit in the car and read forums while the car juices up. As more fast charging stations cropped up, I stopped going there altogether. The ones I use most are a spot behind a local mall (once again, not getting down) that is between where I live and work and where I get medical and optician stuff done, or a small grocery store near the university which is about 10 minutes from my place and has, well, groceries.
1995 Chevy Monte Carlo Z34 Brickyard 400 Pace Car Edition.
Cuties such as NY forbid Walmart so not much chance of them solving the problem. The big cities are gouging businesses so they are moving out of state so that won’t solve any problems. A couple dozen chargers in a city of millions of people aren’t enough. The fact these chargers are mostly daylight charging in cities that don’t have enough capacity to charge in the day time means it ain’t happening. Please look at the white picture not hey Walmart is installed 24 chargers so the countries charging problems are solved. It’s just embarrassingly wrong.
What a wild and weirdly incoherent statement. Too much time online or podcasting methinks.
Walmart is building its charging network out while pther charging infrastructure projects are stalled. They’re targeting a gap in the market. And they have retail presence in places with high EV take rates, like NYC, LA, Seattle and so on. Its good business sense and contributes to increasing charger availability. Which honestly, becomes less of a problem everyday.
I mean. Have you ever used an EV for an extended period of time?
Beyond your clear political leanings, the real question to your post is this: If Walmart building out their charging networks is not helpful to growing the charging infrastructure in the United States, what would you suggest? Or do you just want to complain and offer nothing substantive.
This quote from the article is perfect:
“Walmart as the biggest target”
I say this someone who also eschewed Walmart but now finds themselves at Target often.
“Target, where you pay a little more not to have to shop at Walmart”
That was incredibly true when I lived just north of Minneapolis. The local area was a strange mix of Silent generation members still living in the homes they built and retired in, middle class families buying up the previous group’s houses as they died, and section 8 housing. Walmart was a battle just to get a few items, while target was a breeze, and they were across the road for each other.
Good on Walmart for rolling out more fast charging. Knowing there is fast charging at most of them will definitely make road trips easier. But please, put them in well lit and easily accessible locations. That will make them safer. Some pull through stalls would be great considering how many people tow.
Yes I am sure they won’t limit them to customers. If not I am sure they won’t jack up prices. So much for overloaded systems people will charge at home at night. It’s hilarious All the opposite comments that people make.
Oh and when cities jack up taxes on businesses I’m sure they won’t pass them on to people charging but nut shopping. Common sense is not common among the EV crowd
Huh. Same kinda crazy babble down here. Nothing the OP posted said anything about the chargers being restricted to shoppers only. And they explicitly mentioned road trips. Which precludes one from charging at home overnight. And all this fear of taxes on a car page is weird?
TBQ:
Jeep YJ, as shown in Clueless, which was released in 1995.
Which, coincidentally, is nearly a perfect match for DT’s YJ.
The Autopian needs to do some Clueless skits.
As if!…
The answer is Toyota Celica. In the Legally Blond prequel show Elle there is a white ’95 Celica parked outside a mansion in one scene, and it looked good as ever.
I know almost nothing about EVs except they exist, and I’m interested in a Slate by next year. And Cybertrucks are stupid.
Do you have to pay to charge at Walmart? Or anywhere else? The Meijer 2.5 miles away has a row of chargers and almost always full. Do they pay somehow or is it free?
Like anything else in these United States, you pay. Prices go from 40 cents to 75 cents per kWh. Sometimes it’s subsidized as an incentive.
Any DC charger is going to require payment. There are some low power AC chargers out there that ate free but they are getting rarer as they break and arent replaced.
I believe Tesla L2 destination chargers are mostly free.
Most are. Some charge per kWh plus idle / parking fees. Depends on the owner.
Most 95 car? A teal S-10 with the goofy swoopy side graphics. (My dad had one like that in the 90s hah)
Until fairly recently there was a white S-10 with multi-tone purple swoopy side graphics in damn near mint condition. Hopefully it’s still around killing at Radwood…
TBQ:
Teal civic HB with the split rear hatch
TBQ: Dodge/Plymouth Neon among new offerings, but in 1995 I was driving 1980s cars. I think that was the year I went from an ’84 Mercury Topaz to a 1986 Honda Civic hatchback.
TBQ: In 95 probably a sn95 mustang in that orange rust color or that blue. Followed by Neon in the blue and tracker in that teal.
For the kids now trying to live like 95 it seems like a green 3 series convertible. Or white yj. It might be what Hollywood projected as peak 95 cars then and following years.
My vote for 1995 coded car is the Honda Del Sol.
One of the Costcos near me built a new gas station with dozens of pumps, right next to it are 10 Electrify America chargers.
I really like the answers I’ve seen for 1995 coded car of Explorer Eddie Bauer edition, and fun color Honda Civic, Dodge Neon or even a vote I saw for the Geo Tracker/Suzuki Sidekick in a fun color. Since I haven’t seen it here yet I’m gonna say specifically a Honda Civic Del Sol in any fun 90’s color.
A dark green 95 Honda Accord EX Coupe. With the gold package.
The Walmart charging evolution is interesting to watch. There was a time where I didn’t care for them. But you spend enough time in Arkansas and talk to people who work at different levels along with experience some of the things they do that are good. You realize they are actually better then most corporations. They give a whole lot more back and treat their workers better then Amazon. Aldi and Lidl seems to treat most of their workers a little better? But Walmart allegedly has been closing the gap. I think the perception has changed for many. I know some big time union guys who used to hate Walmart with a passion now they are in there as much as Aldi.
There is a YouTuber called Arkansas e traveler who does a good job covering the roll out and interviewing the people responsible. Walmart’s current store design they are rapidly deploying comes with chargers. They also has a large grab and go section and beverages at the front. Right across from their prepared foods and lots of self checkouts. I think they are still figuring out who to partner with for their cafes. Or what to do there. I think that’s where Walmart will really shine.
They are betting you will come charge your car and do a big shop for everything. They recently won most trusted grocery store by some magazine and their prices are near Aldi for many things. What most people don’t think about is you can get a whole decent hot meal for $5. Right there where walk in. You pair that with a good but inexpensive coffee concept maybe just the automatic machines. Throw in the option of fresh subs and sandwichs at the deli counter. Have some seating. Then the option of smaller regional chains in their mall area. Then you really have a decent charging stop for everyone. The people who live near by getting groceries and whatever else. The people traveling who need to stop for cheaper charging and end up with some value options to eat while they are waiting.
There is a reason all the fast food places in China are deploying charging. It’s a natural place for people on road trips. They could even offer extra low cost or free charging tier maybe 50kw for their members that they will be there for a few hours. Especially with their solar deployments they have been doing.
My local Walmart is actually a pretty decent one, but it is a small one since I live in a rural community. No EV chargers in the parking lot, since Tesla and EA installed some in the parking lot of the grocery store a few miles down the highway. But I expect Walmart will add some of their own since the parking lot, which they redid a year or two back, already has provisions for them and the support equipment (transformers, battery enclosures, etc.). It will be a good move on their part too, as we get a lot of tourists driving through and the Tesla and EA stations at the grocery store are almost constantly full with a line during daylight hours, so catching some of that demand and the shoppers would be to their benefit. I’d also appreciate an EVSE a bit closer to my house, even though I charge at home 98% of the time.
Why do you want to use a nearby EVSE and pay premium rates when you could get home and charge much cheaper?
Mostly for family when they come and visit. I don’t mind sharing my charger, within reason, but it would be nice to be able to say “There’s a charger at Walmart” instead of “The nearest charger is the next town over” like I do today. My commute is pretty long so I need to have my battery full before I head to work, so alternating who uses the home charger can be a bit of a hassle.
TBQ:
Honda Civic Coupe in either “Paradise Blue Green” or “Camellia Red.” Basically Teal and Purple, just as the 90’s demanded.
I still say this was the last model year the Civic was something a bit more special than anything in that category. After that Honda decided to chase volume and quality really decreased.
tbq: I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure it’s got a grounding strap with a reflector, chrome spinners, and maybe a single-wiper conversion parked in the middle so you know it’s got a single-wiper conversion.
most walmarts already have EV chargers. They are just putting in their own brand of charger to cut out the middleman.
I just drove from Denver to Las Vegas (and back) in my ID.4. Every stop but 1 was at a Walmart EA station.
it works fine for trips when you need a full charge and takes 20-30 min. you can run into the store to get something to eat or bathroom. but L3 does not work for shopping and daily charging which may take only 10-15 min. I would need to run out halfway through shopping to move the car.
what’s needed is more L2 chargers.
Too many L3 chargers is a good problem to have. Though I doubt most people would be as considerate to move when done…
L3 needs to be like gas stations, quick in and out close to the main roads and have a convenience store/rest area. Many more on highways. L3 does not need to be in shopping centers or places you’ll be for more than 20 min.
Right. If I knew I had to be in a restaurant or store for an hour, I could dial back the charge rate in the car. I am not sure you can do that in all EVs but I know I can control the charge rate by limiting the amount of charging amps allowed in my Tesla. But if I did do that, I am taking away a spot for someone to charge just for my own convenience and I know lots of folks would do this, necessitating even more chargers.
I can’t understand your take. Level 2 is terrible for public charging unless you plan on being somewhere for 5+ hours to get anything meaningful out of it. The world does need more L2 chargers, but only where people sleep and work.
you don’t need to fill up 20-80%. if every store or restaurant had L2 charging, you can charge for a little bit. all you need to do is top off the 10 miles it took to get there and back.
If all you need is a few minutes of charging to get back home, wouldn’t it make more sense to plan better and charge at home where electricity is cheaper?
I drove EVs for 7 years and can remember only one occasion where I needed a brief charge to get home, and that was back when I drove an OG Leaf with a tiny battery. With modern EVs, the need for a brief charge to travel short distances to your home charger is rare. Aside from emergencies, I’m not sure you get enough electrons from a 10 minute stop at an L2 charger to make it worth the effort to find a charger and plug in.
I don’t disagree that more public L2 chargers would be a good thing for other use cases, though.
I agree home charging is the best solution. I never use L3 except for road trips. but why do you need L3 charging at Walmart for your daily errands? especially if you have home charging.
It’s not about getting a little charge to get home but keeping a constant 50-80% SOC – Always Be Charging. Having lots of L2 chargers would open the door for people who can’t charge at home.
You don’t need L3 charging at Walmart for daily errands. Realistically, you don’t need public charging for daily errands.
Walmart has a lot of positive attributes that could make it useful for a charging network, though.
1 – There are a lot of Walmarts – you are usually within a few miles of one in most towns; if you know all Walmarts have chargers, you know you will be able to find a charger just about anywhere you will be traveling.
2 – Walmarts tend to be in convenient locations – they are on major streets with easy in/out access.
3 – Walmarts have public bathrooms.
4 – Walmarts sell all of the typical snacks you see at convenience stores
5 – Walmarts sell damn near everything else.
6 – Walmarts are often located next to fast food and quick services restaurants.
7 – Walmarts have huge parking lots, so there is ample room to add chargers in a part of the lot that is visible and unoccupied.
8 – Walmarts open early and stay open late, if they aren’t open 24 hours.
9 – Walmarts are very visible – it is hard to miss a Walmart if you are even semi close by.
The only downside is they are not often located directly next to highways, but aside from that, they are just about perfect places to charge.
Which of course is why EA partnered with them early on, though just in those locations that are near freeways. Later they targeted freeway adjacent Targets which also tend to line up with your 9 points as well.
L2 would certainly be cheaper to deploy. As long as it’s lower cost it makes sense. I’ve seen l2 50 to 60c per kw. Where a level 3 down the street will be 40c. There were some Walmarts that had few secret free level 2 but they have been ripping them out for the level 3. There is definitely a use case. Like the free level 2 that so many malls used to have. Going to a movie, dinner and maybe some shopping plug in a pretty complete charge.
Matching dwell time on both ends I think will take some optimizing. Walmart seems to be setting up for those 30 minute and less charging sessions with their new store design.
Having some lower power cheaper dcfc like 50kw then free or almost free level 2 (with membership). Might be a good way to handle it. You choose your dwell time.