Cross news: while the king of fast food is charging in, the world champion of electric cars wants to open… his restaurant.
In France, McDonald’s will install charging stations for electric vehicles in 700 car parks by 2025. But, on the other side of the Atlantic, in Hollywood, Tesla is building its restaurant and an open-air cinema with a space of course dedicated to its superchargers .
Construction of the “Tesla dinner” began
The project was approved at the end of summer by the city of Los Angeles and construction has just begun on Santa Monica Boulevard, where residents were able to see the start of work and the backhoes in action.
As a reminder, this is a 50’s style restaurant reminiscent of “American diners.” We were able to see it in a visual broadcast during Tesla’s Investor Day on March 1.
But, in addition to the restaurant, you will also have to have a cinema with an original layout: the seats will be on the roof of the restaurant, with views of two screens where excerpts from famous movies will be projected for Tesla customers. , who can watch them while they recharge their car through the 32 supercharging terminals.
This is just the beginning, as Tesla plans to develop an entire restaurant chain in the United States.
Sectors that are committed to recharging
In the United States, 70% of the population plans to buy an electric vehicle, but regrets the purchase price and the lack of charging points. Like Tesla, other players have also installed fast charging stations: fast food chains such as KFC, Burger King and McDonald’s.
Subway is also working on this issue with its “Subway Oasis” project in highway service areas. The objective: recharge the car for 20 or 30 minutes taking advantage of the fast food offer, with games for children, green spaces and Wi-Fi connection…
This is also the case of the Californian chain Taco Bell, which has installed charging stations in more than 100 of its restaurants. We can also mention Starbuck, which partnered with Volvo and Chargepoint to install 60 terminals at fifteen points on the Denver-Seattle route, more than 2,000 kilometers.
Supermarket chains, with their large car parks, are also investing: the 7-Eleven brand has launched its own fast charging network for electric cars, called “7Charge”. The network is growing in Florida, Texas, Colorado and California, with ambitions to expand to Canada.
Walmart, for its part, aims to have thousands of fast charging stations in its supermarkets by 2030.
In France too
In France, this small revolution is also underway in supermarket parking lots. These charging stations follow the same model as service stations. Large retailers have understood this and integrated it: Carrefour, Lidl, Monoprix and even Intermarché stores have recently been equipped with charging stations.
The objective: to attract customers who own electric cars and encourage them to make their purchases while charging. A bit like large retailers historically do, offering fuel at cost price.
Source: BFM TV
