RaceTrac finally opened its first-ever EV charging station

The US Southeast’s 570-store service station chain RaceTrac finally got its first EV charging station.

Atlanta-based EV charging provider EnviroSpark has partnered with RaceTrac to install its first-ever EV charging station at 204 Grace Street in Oxford, Alabama. It’s got two 180 kW fast chargers that are compatible with all EVs, and they, along with the parking spaces, are sheltered under a large RaceTrac canopy.

Convenience Store News ran an article in 2011 that reported that RaceTrac wanted to install an EV charger at one of its stores in Bonita Springs, Florida. It’s not clear why it took 12 years to finally install a single EV charger, but here we are.

The new Oxford fast charging station is on PlugShare, which shows that it’s located just two minutes away (a half mile) from an Electrify America DC fast charging station. Interesting.

Additional EV chargers are planned for RaceTrac locations in Dallas before the end of 2024 – locations TBA.

Electrek’s Take

RaceTrac would hardly qualify as an EV charging pioneer, and I don’t see them dropping gas from their service stations anytime soon. In a comment about Oxford’s new EV charger, Max McBrayer, CEO at Racetrac, said, “As a fuel provider – no matter the type [italics mine] – RaceTrac will meet the evolving needs of its guests.” It sounds like the Atlanta-based company has an all-of-the-above strategy – it acquired Gulf Oil in July and has no net-zero targets in sight on its website.

I gotta say, the canopy on that new EV charging station is sweet. It would be good to see more installers put up shelters over their EV charging stations. (Plus, RaceTrac’s convenience stores are really good. Just sayin’.)

Read more: As EV demand rises, here’s what the future holds for gas cars

Photo: PlugShare

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