Gas stations are great… but what if you have an electric car?
A new type of service station is opening up in Santa Ana, complete with lots of EV chargers, a car wash, a WiFi lounge and even a mini-Gelsons for food and snacks.
Rove is a Southern California company building a first-of-its-kind public charging station – think gas station – but for EVs.
“Despite all the spending and excitement about EV growth and EV infrastructure, there’s much more we need to do,” explained Rove CEO Bill Reid.
Rove has everything you need to relax and recharge: 40 fast chargers for all EV brands, free WiFi in the lounge, clean restrooms and even a carwash.
“We also will have service staff on site and security at night. So you know you’ll be safe. You know you’ll get help if you can’t get the charger to work or you don’t understand how it works,” said Reid.
But the high-end convenience store—operated by the premium grocery retailer Gelsons—might make you want to stay a while.
“We really wanted to focus on premium and healthy options for the customer, right? The unique experience of charging a car versus going to the gas station. You have a little more time to potentially make better choices,” explained Gelson’s CEO Ryan Adams.
There’s a much larger selection than you’d typically find on the road, including candy, protein bars, household staples and freshly prepared items like sandwiches, cut fruit, sushi and coffee.
Rove reflects the changing nature of transit. Not everyone can charge EVs at home or work and driving on the road can still be hit or miss.
“By building out the public charging network, it’s giving people the confidence that they’re going to be able to charge their car and be able to get to where they need to go,” said Debs Schrimmer with the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation.
ROVE officially opens on October 15 in Santa Ana. The next two locations are slated for Costa Mesa and Torrance.
