Charging an electric car in supermarket and shopping mall parking lots is already natural in some countries around the world. What's new now is the ultra-fast charging that the IKEA retail chain has started to offer in the parking lots of its stores in the United States, reports the Fast Company.
In partnership with Electrify America, IKEA will install more than 200 public chargers in units in 18 states across the country, towards the goal of being a company more aligned with circular economy and climate positive by 2030.
With the action, the retailer will quadruple the number of chargers in its stores, but with a difference: the new equipment is the fastest on the market. In 20 minutes of charging, they guarantee between 300 and 500 kilometers of autonomy for the car (and reach 150 to 350 kW) –
In addition to the initiative focused on customers' electric vehicles, IKEA teamed up with Electrify Commercial to enable the installation of charging equipment for the retailer's own delivery fleet, with the aim of eliminating, by 2025, all carbon emissions, from deliveries of goods to their final destinations.
According to Javier Quiñones, CEO and director of sustainability at IKEA North America, the objective is to contribute to the viability of low-carbon cities, facilitating the movement of people in a convenient, accessible and sustainable way. “This means offering customers more sustainable ways of getting to stores and generating and using renewable energy at home,” he says.
Global trend
Other North American companies, such as the supermarket chain Whole Foods and the coffee shop chain Starbucks, have also joined the initiative and provide chargers for electric vehicles in their store parking lots.
Actions like this help to encourage the use of this type of car: as they take considerably longer to fully charge compared to filling the tank at a gas station, for example, the possibility of charging the car while shopping in stores retail brings more ease and practicality to users.
In Brazil, iFood was the first in the delivery sector to invest in electric motorcycles as a more economical and sustainable alternative for delivery people. In addition to using clean energy for operation, the maintenance and fuel costs are considerably smaller compared to fossil fuel-powered models.
Beyond the electric car
IKEA's sustainable actions are not restricted to enabling vehicle charging in its parking lots. Although the company's stores are generally located in locations far from urban centers, there is a movement to provide other forms of access.
This is the case of a branch in Vienna (Austria), opened in 2021, which is located in a neighborhood accessible by walking, public transport or cycling. The unit, in fact, does not have parking: it is a way of discouraging the use of cars. Alternatively, IKEA offers the option of delivery by electric bicycle to those purchasing large furniture.
