Mercedes plans DC chargers at 100 Starbucks stores in the U.S.
Since last fall, Mercedes-Benz has been installing DC fast chargers throughout the United States.
And now it plans to install chargers at Starbucks as well. In an announcement Wednesday, Mercedes said it will roll out DC chargers at 100 Starbucks stores in the U.S.
A full list of locations has not been announced, but Mercedes says the first chargers will be installed at Starbucks stores scattered along major travel corridors, such as Interstate 5 on the West Coast Interstate 5 on the West Coast. Chargers will then be installed in several major urban areas and in areas that currently lack charging infrastructure.
Waiting to charge an EV can be tedious, but with chargers in places like Starbucks, owners can incorporate charging into their planned visits to popular beverage outlets.
The chargers, operated by a separate company known as Mercedes-Benz High Power Charging, supply rates as high as 400kw and rely on renewable energy.
Mercedes has already opened about a dozen of its own charging stations in Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Mercedes says the network will expand to cover nearly half of the U.S. states in the next 12 to 18 months.
Mercedes chargers are open to all brands of EVs, and the automaker last year announced plans to adopt the NACS standard in the North American market starting in 2025. Mercedes EV owners already have access to parts of Tesla's charging network, but at the moment they need an adapter.
Despite building its own charging network, Mercedes continues to support the expansion of the Ionity network in Europe, as well as a new North American network that also supports six other automakers.