Why not enjoy a hamburger and a drink while your car is charging? Our network of charging infrastructure at McDonald’s fast food restaurants in Spain is expanding: recent agreements in both Spain and Italy have made it even easier to charge your electric vehicle while taking a break at one of the restaurants of the well-known American chain. The initiative came about as part of the US multinational’s Happy Change project in Spain, which promotes the adoption of sustainability solutions such as the presence of EV charging stations for the chain’s customers, without any obligation for users to make a purchase at the restaurant.
Charging points in Spain
156 Endesa X Way charging stations are now up and running at 60 McDonald’s restaurants in Spain, while a further 80 have been installed and are awaiting the necessary authorizations. The goal in 2022 is to activate an additional 150 charging points at 45 restaurants, which will mean that 38 of the country’s 50 provinces will be covered by this service, which is provided in the restaurants’ parking areas. These provinces include Andalusia, the Valencian Community, Madrid, Catalonia, the Basque Country, the Canary Islands, La Rioja, the Balearic Islands, and Castile and León.
Fast charging
Each charging station has a capacity of more than 43kWh, and in some cases up to 150kWh and even 350kWh, with which it is possible to achieve an 80% charge in just 20 minutes. “Thanks to agreements with household names like McDonald’s, we’re continuing to bring electric mobility within easy reach of users, providing charging options in everyday situations and diversifying solutions in key locations with cutting-edge technologies in order to adapt to what each person needs,” emphasized Elena Elena Bernárdez, Head of Mobility at Endesa X Way.
The partnership in Italy
In parallel with the Spanish partnership is a similar agreement in Italy between McDonald’s and Enel X Way that is seeing the activation of 200 charging stations at the company’s fast food restaurants all over Italy. Of these, 114 have already been installed, thanks to 59 infrastructures located at the restaurants’ parking areas, covering the majority of Italian regions (map). The charging points include 23 with alternating current (AC) JuicePole stations, 32 fast stations and 4 High Power Charging (HPC) 100kW totems. Viewed in its entirety, our infrastructure installed at the McDonald’s restaurants in Italy has already avoided the emission of 180 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, equal to the quantity absorbed in one year by a forest of 10,000 trees. And thanks to our charging stations, McDonald’s customers have already travelled more than 1.5 million kilometers.
Enel X Way and other companies
The partnership with McDonald’s is just one of numerous collaborations we’ve launched with leading companies to promote the spread of charging infrastructure. What’s more, all companies, including SMEs, can now take part in the Enel X Way Recharge Partner program to fit their customer parking areas with our charging stations, which are accessible 24 hours a day even when the company is not open for business. The cost of the initial investment, which currently benefits from a state subsidy equal to 40% of the total cost of purchase and installation, can be recouped through the company’s participation in the revenues deriving from the supply of electricity to the charging vehicles, a scenario in which it is also possible for the business in question to make a profit. All of which goes to show that a sustainable future is also an affordable future, for everyone.
