Report: EV Owners Want to Stop and Shop

When it comes time to recharge their electric vehicles, drivers would rather go grocery shopping for 20 minutes than sit in their Teslas or Rivians and watch Netflix. 

That’s the finding of a new report, The 2026 State of Retail-First EV Charging by Electric Era, Paren, and the Transportation Energy Institute, which provides insights into the relationship between EV fast-charging station sites and nearby amenities, as well as how EV charging infrastructure is evolving.

For chambers and economic development organizations, the takeaway is simple: EV charging infrastructure drives foot traffic for nearby businesses. Communities that pair fast chargers with grocery stores, restaurants and retail districts turn charging minutes into dollars spent at local businesses and give site selectors one more reason to invest in commercial corridors.

Chargers located near supermarkets see a median of 42 charging sessions per day (SPD). For context, anything above nine SPD is considered above average. Yet grocery stores sit near just 6% of stations in the study. Pharmacies fare better at 14.5%, with a median of 45 SPD. Malls appear near only 3.7% of stations but post an impressive 35 SPD, underscoring the study's finding that EV drivers seek out places where they already shop and spend time.

Restaurants are the most common neighbors: quick-serve restaurants, sit-down restaurants, and coffee shops appear near approximately 50% of all stations. Variety matters, the report finds: Stations with 11 or more nearby amenities see seven times the utilization of isolated ones, though a single big-box store still performs well on its own.

“Chambers are perfectly positioned to act on this. They know where the retail corridors are, who the property owners are, and which businesses want more foot traffic,” said Jamie Green, CICE southern regional director and decade-long EV owner. “Pairing chargers with retail is one of the fastest ways a community can turn EV growth into local revenue.”

Reliability matters as much as retail. The study finds unreliable stations average just three sessions per day, while reliable stations see a median of 17.

The report analyzes fourth-quarter 2025 data from 4,105 DC fast-charging stations rated 100 kW per port or higher, spanning open networks including Electrify America, EVgo, ChargePoint, IONNA and Shell Recharge. Tesla Supercharger data is outside the report's scope.

For more information, check out CICE’s briefs on electric vehicles.