A number of months ago, I noticed that a large construction area had been fenced off in the parking lot of the Walmart located on Park Plaza Drive in Secaucus. Being the curious soul that I am, I naturally wandered over to try to peek at what was being built. At that time, though, there was nothing to see except that the pavement was being dug up.
As the months passed, I sort of lost interest in the construction. All I knew was that a good portion of the parking area was no longer available due to some mystery project. However, some time last month, I decided to once again peek through the fencing, and I figured out what was being built. Or at least I thought I did.
What I saw were gas pumps, and my first reaction was that this was actually not anything Walmart related. Instead, this was a project of Sam's Club, the store located right next to Walmart. Some Sam's Club locations already sell gas, and I thought the Secaucus location was following suit. It will be interesting, though, given that there are already numerous gas stations throughout Secaucus, with one being less than two minutes away from Sam's Club. But hey, why do I care? If the additional competition means that I can get my gas at a cheaper price, I'll be a happy camper. So I looked forward to when the new gas station will be opening.
Finally, earlier this month, I noticed the fencing had been removed on one of visits to the giant retailer. "Yay," I initially thought. But wait, this new gas station looks very unassuming. Walking over to take a closer look, I saw that the gas pumps seemed to be stationed next to regular parking spots, which made no sense to me. Then, upon taking a closer look at the pump itself, it finally hit me. "Oh! These aren't even gas pumps." They are vehicle charging stations, deceptively made to look like gas pumps in my opinion.
What had actually been built were four Electrifying America charging stations. This is part of an initiative between Walmart and Electrify America (a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group of America) to bring electric vehicle charging stations to Walmart locations across America. In fact, as of this past summer, there are already such charging stations at Walmarts in 34 different states. One of the major hurdles in having U.S. drivers adopt electric vehicles is the lack of an infrastructure for consumers to charge their cars. But with this initiative, Walmart and Electrifying America hope to alleviate this concern since Walmart is a world recognized retailer with locations all over the country.
Unfortunately, the use of these chargers are not free. According to Electrifying America, the cost will be accrued by each minute of charging time. The actual price will be based on your location and the power level of the charging session. The chargers at Walmart feature two power levels, 150 kW and 350 kW. The power level chosen will be automatically determined by the charger based on your vehicle. As of this writing, one minute of 350 kW charging will cost $0.99 in the state of New Jersey, and this one minute will provide up to a range of approximately 20 miles.
I had the chance to ask the opinion of a local Secaucus resident shopping at Walmart about these new charging stations. "I think it's great," he said. "I just have a regular car, but knowing there are chargers I can use here while I shop might make me buy an electric car one day." So this green initiative definitely seems to be working.
As with all major changes, it will take time for the masses to adopt electric vehicles. However, these new chargers definitely seem to be a step in the right direction in changing people's attitudes. Heck, although I am still slightly disappointed that this didn't end up being a new gas station, I myself am now also more open to the possibility to buying an electric vehicle in the future.
