ARKO Forms Partnership to Ready Its Stores for Electric Vehicles

RICHMOND, Va. — ARKO Corp. is gearing up for electric vehicle (EV) charging adoption.

ARKO, which owns 100 percent of GPM Investments LLC, signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Chakratec, an Israel-based developer of EV charging technology, to distribute the kinetic storage systems for fast charging of EVs. 

"The outdated electrical infrastructure in many U.S. states and its inability to support fast charging is a significant barrier to massive penetration of electric vehicles. In fact, I believe the United States is still many years away from mass adoption of electric vehicles and this won't change until fast charging infrastructure is more widely available," said Arie Kotler, chairman, president and CEO of ARKO.

"Our partnership with Chakratec is an important first step in our long-term journey toward being ready should the time come for electric vehicles to become mainstream in North America," he concluded.

As part of the MOU, ARKO and Chakratec will conduct a preliminary pilot in the United States in 2022. The partnership also includes a goal of an extensive deployment of fast charging points for EVs throughout North America by 2030.

Chakratec's technology and products aim to solve the main challenge to mass adoption of EVs by allowing vast deployment of ultra-fast charging points, even in sites where the local grid infrastructure is limited in power.

Based in Richmond, GPM is the seventh largest convenience store chain in the United States, with approximately 2,950 locations comprised of approximately 1,350 company-operated stores and approximately 1,600 dealer sites to which it supplies fuel in 33 states and Washington D.C. GPM operates in three segments: retail, wholesale and GPM Petroleum, which supplies fuel to GPM and its subsidiaries selling fuel, as well as sub-wholesalers and bulk purchasers.