Dive Brief:

• Diversified Restaurant Group, through a partnership with ChargeNet Stations, on Tuesday added ultra-fast electric vehicle charging stations at a Taco Bell in South San Francisco, according to a press release.
• Customers can use any EV car at ChargeNet Stations, which provide an average of a 100-mile charge in 20 minutes for about $20. 
• Roughly 120 Diversified Taco Bells in California are expected to install EV charging stations, according to an email from Diversified sent to Restaurant Dive.

Dive Insight:

Diversified, which operates over 300 Taco Bell and Arby’s restaurants across five states, could eventually expand this partnership to locations in other states. The offering could broaden Diversified’s consumer reach, especially in areas underserved by EV charging stations.

“We are committed to catalyzing the EV revolution to ensure it spans across all demographics,” ChargeNet Stations CEO and founder Tosh Dutt said in the release. “This is why we are working with quick-serve restaurants, where an estimated 120 million Americans eat every day. About half of our locations are in marginalized communities across California, providing charging access to people who may not have the luxury of a home charging station.”

ChargeNet uses its software, paired with solar energy and energy storage, with Tritium's fast EV chargers installed at QSRs. ChargeNet is expanding with other restaurant brands as well, and more partnerships will be announced in the future, according to the press release. With California set to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars and trucks by 2035, access to charging stations will be paramount in the state. As of 2021, there were over 30,000 limited-service restaurants in California, according to Statista, leaving a large swath of white space for EV charger providers to partner with additional restaurant brands. 

Diversified’s addition of EV charging stations could potentially divert traffic from competitors and give its restaurants access to a valuable captive audience, though more chains are embracing the technology. Starbucks has also been experimenting with EV charging stations. In August, the coffee chain partnered with Volvo and ChargePoint Holdings to install EV chargers a cafe in Provo, Utah. By the end of the year, up to 15 Starbucks locations along a 1,350-mile route that runs from the Colorado Rockies to Starbucks’ Support Center in Seattle will add EV stations. The stations will be added about every 100 miles along the route.