[Exclusive] 'Thank You LG'... I Go to Starbucks to Charge My Electric Car

In Consultation with Shinsegae I&C for Installation
7kW Slow Charger and 100kW Fast Charger Expected to be Installed

'Blue Ocean' Electric Vehicle Charger Market
Jo Joo-wan: "Aiming to Develop a Trillion-Won Scale Business"

LG Electronics will install electric vehicle (EV) chargers at Starbucks stores in South Korea. This move by a major domestic coffee chain to expand EV infrastructure is expected to have a positive impact on the growth of the electric vehicle market.

According to industry sources on the 7th, LG Electronics is in discussions with Shinsegae Group's IT affiliate Shinsegae I&C to install EV charging stations in the parking lots of Starbucks stores.

LG Electronics electric vehicle chargers (from left: 7kW wall-mounted, 100kW, 200kW).
[Photo by LG Electronics]

Considering the price and the average stay time of Starbucks customers, it is expected that 7kW slow chargers and 100kW fast chargers will be installed. Although 200kW fast chargers are available, their high cost makes the two aforementioned products more likely to be introduced. According to industry sources, the current price of a 7kW wall-mounted LG Electronics EV charger is 650,000 KRW, while the stand-type costs around 1.5 million KRW, and the 100kW charger is priced at about 30 million KRW each. The 200kW charger is known to exceed 50 million KRW.

This collaboration became possible because Starbucks’ plan to expand EV charging stations aligned with LG Electronics’ experience building infrastructure for Shinsegae. Starbucks has been expanding EV charging stations after converting parking lots in drive-thru (DT) stores, which were previously free, into paid parking. In January 2022, Starbucks installed its first EV charging station at The Book Hangang R branch in partnership with Mercedes-Benz Korea, and since April last year, it has installed six charging stations with Hyundai Motor Group’s Korea Electric Vehicle Charging Service. Currently, Starbucks operates paid parking lots at over 100 stores nationwide. Notably, starting this year, Starbucks plans to replace all logistics delivery trucks with electric vehicles, creating a need for more chargers. LG Electronics also built EV charging stations at Shinsegae affiliate E-Mart in November last year.

Both parties appear to be discussing the development of a cloud-based integrated control solution linked to the EV chargers. This solution would allow for a comprehensive view and remote management of chargers across all stores nationwide.

An LG Electronics official cautiously stated, "It is still at the conceptual stage."

LG Electronics' 11kW slow charger product to be released in the first half of this year.
[Photo by LG Electronics]

LG Electronics plans to expand its customer base leveraging the Starbucks supply deal. The EV charger business is considered a blue ocean market as infrastructure expansion is lagging behind the rapid market growth. Jo Joo-wan, President of LG Electronics, emphasized last July that "the EV charging market is one of the mega trends expected to grow 30% annually until 2030, expanding eightfold."

LG Electronics expects the collaboration with Starbucks to accelerate its entry into the U.S. market. This is because there is potential for EV charging business with Starbucks International as well. Starbucks International plans to increase the number of stores using EV charging or solar power to 55 locations in the U.S. by 2030.

LG Electronics will launch a slow charger capable of 11kW charging and a fast charger capable of 175kW charging in the U.S. market in the first half of this year. According to Goldman Sachs and others, the share of EV sales in the U.S. is expected to reach 20% by 2025 and 50% by 2030. Especially with the U.S. government implementing the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program to build 500,000 EV charging stations nationwide, the EV charger market is projected to grow to $3.2 billion (approximately 4.15 trillion KRW) by 2025.