Global furniture giant IKEA is to install free electric vehicle charging stations at its stores in Canada.
Stefan Sjostrand, the president of IKEA Canada, announced this during a speech at the Climate Summit of the Americas. According to Sjostrand the company be installing the EV charging stations at each of its 12 stores in Canada within the next six to eight weeks.
IKEA Canada will install two 60-ampere charging stations at each store in coordination with Sun Country Highway. IKEA will be the first retailer in Canada to take up such a project in that country.
According to IKEA its charging stations would help mitigate range anxiety among its customers as its stores are situated close to major transportation corridors.
Earlier, IKEA Canada had invested in a 46-megawatt wind farm in Alberta and installed about 4,000 solar panels on the roofs of four Ontario-based stores.
IKEA is one of the global industrial giants that have pledged to become energy independent by 2020.
Last month, IKEA Group and IKEA Foundation together announced a 1-billion-euro fund to develop renewable energy projects and to support communities affected by climate change globally.
While IKEA Group will invest 600 million euros in renewable energy projects (500 million euros in wind energy projects and 100 million euros in solar power projects) until 2020, IKEA Foundation will be spending 400 million euros on local communities most at risk from climate change during the period.
The company has already invested 1.5 billion euros on wind and solar energy projects since 2009. It operates 314 offsite wind turbines and has installed 700,000 solar panels across buildings it owns.
Ajith Kumar S