Retail REIT Strikes 50-Property EV Charger Deal With Mercedes-Benz
Federal Realty Investment Trust is plunging into electric vehicle charging with an agreement to bring 500 charging stations to its retail centers across the country.
The retail REIT announced Wednesday that it has partnered with Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging in what it calls a “one-of-a-kind” agreement to outfit at least 50 of its centers with EV charging infrastructure.
The plan is for each location to feature up to 10 charging stalls, which will be adaptive to any EV model.
The Bethesda, Maryland-based REIT plans to bring the first 20 sites online next year across eight states: Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. It didn't name all of the properties but said they include Camelback Colonnade in Phoenix, Lawrence Park Shopping Center in Broomall, Pennsylvania, and Shops at Pembroke Gardens in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
“We view this partnership as a strategic inflection point for EV infrastructure deployment in retail real estate,” Federal Realty President and CEO Don Wood said in the release. “By aligning with Mercedes-Benz, we're introducing a forward-looking amenity that enhances the customer experience and reinforces the long-term strength of our portfolio.”
Federal Realty owns 103 properties, according to its first-quarter earnings report. Its 27.5M SF portfolio is mostly high-end retail with just over 3,000 residential units.
In the U.S., there are 4.8 million electric vehicles in operation, making up 1.6% of the total vehicles on the road, according to Experian’s Q1 Automotive Market Trends Report.
Nearly 300,000 EVs were sold in Q1, making up 7.5% of all new vehicle sales, according to Kelly Blue Book.
But the momentum is slowing.
A Pew Research Center study published last month found that a third of participants said they “would very or somewhat seriously consider purchasing an electric vehicle (EV) as their next vehicle.” That’s compared to 42% who said the same in 2022.
BNEFBloomberg revised its outlook on U.S. electric vehicle sales last month, predicting EVs will make up 27% of total passenger cars by 2030, down from the 48% it had predicted in last year’s report. It said U.S. policy changes are the “biggest factor” in the outlook revision.
The landscape of federal support for electric vehicles has changed dramatically.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last week, is set to eliminate the Biden-era $7,500 EV tax credit starting in September.
The administration has also been fighting a $5B Biden administration initiative, passed through the Inflation Reduction Act, that aims to place chargers every 50 miles on major highways. Trump has tried to freeze the program, but a judge ruled against the administration last month and it appears as though Trump won’t try to appeal the ruling.
