Electric vehicles are changing more than just how Americans fuel—it’s reshaping where they spend their time. And for grocery stores, that shift presents a unique opportunity hiding in plain sight: the parking lot.
Unlike traditional fueling, EV charging takes the perfect amount of time to take place during a grocery run—typically in the neighborhood of 30 minutes. For grocers, that dwell time creates a high-value window to capture new customers, encourage larger basket sizes, and reinforce store loyalty. But only if the charging experience is fast, reliable, and aligned with shopper needs.
Until recently, most EV charging infrastructure hasn’t been designed with retailers in mind. High install costs, long timelines, and grid constraints have slowed adoption. Even when chargers are installed, they’re often disconnected from store operations—rented parking spaces utilized by a third-party charging brand.
That’s starting to change.
A new wave of charging solutions is emerging with a more retail-centric approach. Among them is Seattle-based Electric Era, which has focused its model specifically on the grocery and convenience retail sectors, offering smarter integrations with retail experiences, high reliability, and ultra-efficient battery-backed systems that both save OpEx without sacrificing performance and accelerate deployment timelines.
The company's stations pair high speed charging with on-site battery storage to build in power constrained sites, reducing grid upgrade requirements by 50-70%. For retailers, that means lower energy costs and the ability to deploy across a wide range of store formats, without sacrificing performance (up to 400 kW per port) and reliability (top tier 92+% per session reliability).
They’re also more brand-friendly. Instead of sharing brand perception with a third party, retailers can now extend their brand into the parking lot and integrate branded experiences into the charging kiosk’s touchscreen, such as loyalty programs, advertising, and even point of sale interactions.
Electric Era plans to launch a next-generation version of its EV fast charging platform this fall, aimed at helping retailers such as grocery stores expand their brand into the parking lot and grow store revenue. For those attending Groceryshop in Las Vegas, they’ll have the opportunity to get hands on with Electric Era’s products and even get a sneak peek at the future.
As EV adoption continues to grow—and as shoppers increasingly value convenience—the role of charging in grocery retail is likely to expand. For forward-thinking operators, it’s not just about providing power. It’s about plugging into a new kind of growth.
