Convenience store chain Wawa marked two milestones in its electric vehicle journey by announcing Aug. 31 that it had reached its 150th store to offer electric vehicle charging and the launch its first battery-electric truck in partnership with Penske Logistics.
The convenience retailer, with locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C., continues to increase the number of stores hosting EV charging stations to increase charging access and convenience to drivers of electric vehicles, according to a company release. Wawa began hosting EV charging at its first store in 2017 and now offers Tesla Superchargers and others with both CCS and CHAdeMO connectors through providers such as EVgo, ChargePoint, and Electrify America. Wawa has hosted more than six million charging sessions across our network of EV charging locations since 2017. Wawa stores host more Tesla chargers than any retail chain in North America.
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Wawa also is partnering with Penske to operate a Freightliner eCascadia battery-electric truck as part of a six-month pilot program, the first electric truck used in Wawa’s history. Wawa and Penske will test and learn more about this emerging technology to consider future application or expansion to its delivery fleet, according to the Wawa release.
“It gives us great pride to cut a ribbon on our 150th store offering EV charging, faster than we anticipated, and to continue to grow the number of stores we have hosting EV charging,” Wawa President Brian Schaller said. “We’re also thrilled to spread our wings in the electric vehicle space by testing our first electric truck with Penske that will allow us to learn more about our continued efforts to have a positive impact on our EV journey.”
Jeff Jackson, Penske Logistics’ executive VP of operations for dedicated contract carriage, added: “We are very pleased to support our longtime customer Wawa with their sustainability journey in their fresh channel supply chain. We have depth and breadth of experience in this area.”
