Source electrek article without USA todays right wing "charging is just too hard!" slant.
this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2025
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After depending on their gas stations for years, I trust them to pull this off.
Costco customers famously don't live in detached housing where charging at home is trivial.
If Costco had DC fast charging (at an equivalent discounted rate to their gasoline sales), I'd be using Costco fast charging on many road trips. This would be especially nice because Costco stores are well distributed over USA and Canada to lots of place I like to go! In the time it would take me to walk from the parking lot to the Snack Bar for a cheap hotdog and soda, my car would likely be nicely topped off whether I'm paying in greenbacks or loonies.
Given how cutthroat Costco parking is near us, I'd be shocked if the spots weren't ICEd.
Seriously. The parking near my Costco is so bad I haven't gone in two months. If it wasn't worth the membership price for the tire service alone I'd probably cancel.
The Costco near me regularly has a handful of Teslas and other EVs parked in its lot. ICEd or not, I’m willing to bet those spots will be occupied virtually all the time.
Oo, that has multiple meanings now.
Sad upvote. :(
I'm glad to see this, but there's a missing piece of information: How much per kWh will they charge?
Costco offers a discount on gasoline over other gas stations. I really hope they extend this philosophy to this Level 3 charging product. I've been trying very hard to only use non-Tesla Level 3 chargers when I have to fast charge on road trips. I know for a fact I'm paying quite a bit more per kWh than using Tesla chargers. Even with the higher cost of alternatives, I still try to avoid Tesla chargers because that money goes to funding Musk.
Costco at San Luis Obispo had a 10-stall EA station. Same rate as everywhere else.
It wouldn’t surprise me if, in that case, EA is just renting the spaces from Costco. So EA would be paying for the electricity usage, setting the rate, etc.
If Costco rolls this out across their warehouses I’m sure they’d contract with the EV company in such a way to maximize their advantage. If Costco “owns” the source of the electricity used by the chargers then they could set the rate, and they may very well decide it’s in their interest to just break even or even lose a little money on charging if it brings in more shoppers.
These apparently have Ad leaderboards. If they follow other similar platforms, the charging will be free.
I haven't heard of these other platforms before. There are free Level 3 DC fast charging networks?
Hmm, not sure the charger ratings, but ive seen various chargers at grocery stores that are free chargers. I assume at least level 2s.
EDIT: nope, looked up the chargers I recall seeing and they are level 1. So I expect you're right, these will likely be pay chargers.
I've certainly seen free Level 2 chargers, but only a few ever free Level 3 and those were usually 50kw and single chargers only attached to a business that makes their money some other way (like a car dealership).
I think the cheapest Level 3 DC Fast charging I've ever seen was maybe 25 cent a kWh and that was one time. The cheapest Tesla superchargers I've seen in my travels have been 30 cents or so (which is a very good price). Usual Tesla supercharger price is 43 cents to 51 cents in my region. However, the non-Tesla Fast charger can get very expensive with 67 cent + a $1 per session charging fee! I'm looking at you EVgo!
The thing about having L3 charging outside a Costco is you can either get shopping done or grab a cheap hot dog or a slice of pizza while waiting.
Win, win. Amazed they haven't done it sooner.
I welcome getting more charging options into the wild... hopefully this will provide some (if only minimal for now) progress in transitioning from fossil to EV for the larger communities.
I can't afford an EV yet, but the more adoption happens, the sooner I can get one.
I can't load the article for some reason. Doesn't resolve as a valid address.
I guess I'd only add, please stop putting stupid walls or poles in front of charging stations so those of us towing can pull through and charge.
Some of us cannot safely disconnect the trailer and park it because there are live animals inside
Finding those places when traveling are a dime a dozen.
thats quite a bit of juice to accidentally bump into tho… seems like the safety precautions might be important
i don’t have an electric vehicle yet, but i do have aspirations…
I don't mean in front of the chargers, I mean in front of the parking spots.
When towing horses I'd be able to charge at like 50-75% more places if more places didn't put a curb or a metal pole in front of the parking spot and disallow pulling through
ah i get you. yeah that sounds frustrating