The Swedish retailer IKEA has been on a roll with their renewable energy efforts (installing solar power systems at numerous branches), and has now decided that they will install fast charging stations for electric vehicles at all their branches in Norway. Stations will be opened in Trondheim, Bergen, and Kristiansand in 2017.
A store is a great place to install an electric vehicle charging station, and an even better place to install a fast charging station. This can motivate electric car drivers to stop by and shop while charging, and it is tremendously helpful to electric car drivers that are already shopping there for other reasons.
As many of you know, when it comes down to increasing the adoption of electric vehicles, the installation of charging stations in convenient places is a piece of the puzzle. IKEA, being an ubiquitous retailer, may have just given the EV industry a big boost for the long run with this decision.
This is important for two reasons. Apart from the first reason, which is the ubiquity of IKEA stores, the second is that these are fast charging stations. This means that more electric vehicle owners can not only top up, but get a full charge if they’re just making a short trip to the store!
EV adoption in Norway has already exceeded that of most countries, and it appears that Norway will continue to lead in that area for years to come.
