Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores broke ground on next-generation EV charging stations at its New York stores in Ripley and Waterloo. Each location will feature two dual port Level 3 direct current (DC) fast chargers (four charging spots) with 160-kilowatt, high-power outputs.
- Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores is No. 16 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
“Love’s is honored to play a critical role in actively shaping and building out the fast-charging electric vehicle network across the nation,” said Shane Wharton, president of Love’s. “Expanding the EV charging network is not new to us as we first started in the EV space in 2017 and have continued to grow the network. We now offer more than 100 chargers at 28 stores in 11 states. These future EV investments reinforce our commitment to meeting customers’ needs regardless of fuel type.”
Love's onsite amenities include:
- Proximity off highways: Locations are located right off highways with efficient entry and exit points.
- Onsite amenities: Offerings include restaurants, Wi-Fi, fresh food and drinks options, Mobile to Go Zone with the latest technologies, clean restrooms, dog parks and more.
- Staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: The traveling public will have trained resources should they have questions or need immediate assistance while charging. Also, locations are well lit, have full security camera coverage, and team members regularly walk the property to check for safety issues.
- EV chargers: Love’s offers both alternating current (AC) level 2 charging and DC level 3 fast charging to meet a variety of vehicles and charging needs.
- EV canopies: Each new EV charging area is expected to have canopies installed to protect drivers from weather as well as typical fueling amenities such as trash cans and windshield cleaning supplies.
Below is a map of Love's EV charging locations and the company's plans for the future.
Love’s has also secured state and National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program federal grants to assist in building out the EV charging infrastructure across the country.
The NEVI program allocates federal funding state-by-state for EV charging equipment installation. This infrastructure investment aims to invest $5 billion over five years to create a national network of 500,000 EV chargers along 75,000 miles of highways, with a focus on enhancing accessibility and convenience for drivers.
Love's continues to be among the top 3 firms to receive the most NEVI grant funds overall and leads in the travel station sector, according to the company. A significant amount of the NEVI grants has been awarded to fuel retailers.
Groundbreaking on four NEVI-funded charging stations in Pennsylvania and four in Kentucky will start this year. In 2025, construction is expected to start on grant awards that Love’s secured in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
All new Love’s Travel Stops will have space for EV chargers allocated to be able to quickly partner with local utility companies to install EV charging stations should there be customer demand.
Oklahoma City-based Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores operates 642 locations in 42 states.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.