IKEA plans to increase the number of ultra-fast public charging stations and delivery fleet car chargers in its US stores. The furniture retailer has announced a partnership with Electrify America and Electrify Commercial to install new charging stations in over 25 IKEA stores in the US.
As a result, more than 200 public chargers will be installed at IKEA retail sites in 18 states, including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. The first locations are scheduled to open in late 2022, with the project expected to be finished by the end of 2023.
IKEA Joins Hands With Electrify America
Electrify Commercial, a division of Electrify America, will provide complete charging solutions for IKEA’s EV delivery fleet, with over 225 individual chargers installed throughout the sites. IKEA US plans to achieve zero-emission home deliveries by 2025, as well as to cut tailpipe emissions from customer and coworker travel in half by 2030.
“This collaboration with Electrify America will not only bring ultra-fast public chargers to our stores for the first time but it will also help us take a big leap as we work towards our targets to become circular and climate-positive,” said Javier Quiñones, CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA US.
Watering the Sustainability Dream
With this collaboration, IKEA US will be able to install four times as many EV chargers as before, contributing to the aim of zero-emission home deliveries by 2025 and halving relative emissions from customer and coworker travel by 2030.
“We are on a journey to make it more convenient and accessible for the many people to travel with zero emissions and we have the ambition by 2030 to reduce relative emissions from customers and co-worker travel and home deliveries by 50%,” said Karol Gobczyński, Climate and Energy Leader, Ingka Group (IKEA’s parent company), at the time of their last announcement. “In 2021 we reached our goal to provide access to EV charging stations in all stores where parking is provided, ensuring a convenient experience for customers who have made the switch to electric vehicles. This new increase in charging infrastructure will further support our customers, as part of our customer experience journey.”
Committed Ever Since
In 2016, IKEA formed a partnership with Electrify America to develop an electric vehicle (EV) delivery service. The Swedish furniture retailer collaborated with Electrify Commercial, a company unit that offers turnkey electric vehicle charging solutions for companies, to install over 225 individual chargers at each of its stores. For the first time, Electrify America and Electrify Commercial are simultaneously deploying public and fleet chargers for a project.
“We are excited to establish both public and commercial fleet charging stations with IKEA – a brand that shares our goal of a more sustainable future,” said Giovanni Palazzo, president and CEO of Electrify America. “Through this collaboration, Electrify America, Electrify Commercial and IKEA U.S. are leading a path forward for customers and businesses toward zero-emission transportation.”
Since opening its first charging station in May of 2018, Electrify America has been aggressively expanding. In fact, they’ve been opening roughly four stations per week on average! Currently, approximately 800 stations and 3,500 individual chargers are available, with plans to increase to 1,800 charging stations and 10,000 individual chargers in the United States and Canada by 2026.
… But Why Does It Matters?
It may appear that announcing every modest charging deal may become tedious. After all, with all of the infrastructure investment, the Dieselgate stations that are still being built, and all of the other DC fast charging stations that are being installed, the pace of articles like these will only increase.
What matters most to EV drivers is that these charging stations appear on their charging map and assist them in making trips, right?
However, there are other factors that make this specific collaboration significant.
First and foremost, it is the consequence of IKEA’s ongoing efforts to develop its EV charging network. It’s something the corporation is under no duty to do, and it’s simply a convenience for IKEA customers. In most cases, a consumer picking IKEA already didn’t have a comparable store to go to (it’s a rather unique offering). However, the corporation is choosing to do this regardless of whether it is required. This demonstrates the company’s commitment to doing the right thing.
More importantly, they’re not just talking the talk but they’re walking the walk over and again.
This is also the next episode in the Electrify America saga, and there’s no doubt that it has made a significant dent in the problem of non-Tesla charging infrastructure in the United States. It began as a penalty for VW’s Dieselgate incident, but the corporation eventually developed a functional charging network (even though there have been some problems lately). Its ongoing efforts to locate new real estate and parking lot partners demonstrate that it will not do VW’s penance and then leave town.
Finally, this is useful information for both firms’ stockholders. When it comes to sustainability practices, IKEA has become a decent company, and this relationship is merely the next step for both firms (IKEA and Electrify America) to take what they’re doing to the next level. Knowing where these crucial chess pieces are on the board and where they’re heading has an impact on everything around them. Our situational awareness of this change may be minor, but when combined with other actions we report on, it’s an essential story for consumers to follow when their money is invested in the business.