Costco is removing the EV charging stations it had installed for more than a decade in stores in California, Arizona, NY, and Georgia. Why? “No one ever used them.” You can bet that this is a business decision based on the bottom line. Costco says there are tons of other ways they can go “Green.”
Here’s something that many of us who are installing them in our garages across the fruited plain should consider. Its not the up front cost that concerned Costco, it was the ongoing maintenance, the space taken, the fact that someone has to periodically check them, clean them, and the like.
Of course the EV drivers are going nuts over this decision, and Ed Bagley jr, driver of an electric RAV4, is starting a letter writing campaign. But gee, guys, it makes no economical sense for Costco to keep providing free charges to you, green or not.
I hope the famous law of unintended consequences doesn’t catch up and bite us where we sit. There is no such thing as a free lunch, even those famous Costco hot dogs cost money.
JVH
