Wawa tests own-branded EV charging at eight Pennsylvania stores

At eight Pennsylvania Wawa stores, the coffee stop is getting a new piece of infrastructure: Wawa-branded fast chargers. The convenience-store chain plans to roll them out this year, with Electrify America supplying the equipment, software, and network support behind the scenes. Wawa will operate the stations under its own brand and have more control over the customer experience, but the company has not announced opening dates or prices.

Five locations — in Upper Darby, Phoenixville, Media, Williamsport, and Reading — are planned with both NACS and CCS connectors and charging speeds of up to 400 kW. Three others — in Bristol, Allentown, and Quakertown — will offer CCS-only chargers capable of up to 350 kW. The figures describe the hardware’s ceiling: an EV will draw only as much power as its battery and charging system can accept.

Wawa describes the Pennsylvania rollout as a test of charging operated under its own brand. The retailer already hosts Tesla, Electrify America, and IONNA fast chargers, and the new stations will not replace those relationships. The in-house model gives Wawa more control over reliability, branding, and the experience around a charging session — including the chance for drivers to spend their waiting time inside the store.

The scale of the retail charging push is visible at Walmart. The company has opened 100 company-owned fast-charging sites across 20 states. Its typical smaller sites have eight to 16 plugs, split between CCS1 and NACS, and use 400-kW hardware from ABB E-mobility and Alpitronic. Walmart says its own software manages charger status, payments, and location data, with charging built into the regular Walmart app.

So what changes for drivers? More familiar retail destinations are adding high-power charging, and the competing approaches are becoming clearer: Wawa is testing brand ownership while relying on Electrify America’s technical platform; Walmart is building both the hardware network and the software around it. For now, the Wawa plan is still a test, and its price and launch schedule are unknown. But the practical direction is visible: charging is moving closer to the places where drivers already stop.