Scott Hundley on how Pilot is building a coast-to-coast EV charging network

On this week’s episode of The Future of Convenience podcast, hosts Carolyn Schnare and Dan Munford sit down with Scott Hundley, director of light duty EV and infrastructure at Pilot, and Rich Wilcox, vice president at Kalibrate, to find out more about the growing U.S. EV infrastructure and Pilot’s strategy for that growing need.

Hundley shared that Pilot currently has charging at more than 300 locations and 1,350-plus units across 40 states. Smartly, the team plans its map in sections of 150 to 200 miles so that no driver faces a long gap. Pilot sees itself as a provider of whatever its customers need at the pump or the plug. “We like to move at the pace and preference of the guest and so as more and more of our guests are choosing EVs, we want to be there to support them with electrons as the fuel of their choice,” he said.

That thinking shapes the site itself, since most locations open with four 350-kilowatt chargers and a setting built around how people really behave while they wait, whether that means streaming on free Wi-Fi from the driver’s seat, walking a dog, or heading inside for a slice of pizza and a restroom break. Hundley was candid about what travelers want from the experience. “We have great stops, but I don’t think anyone wants to spend all day at our travel centers,” he said.

Keeping those chargers working is a team effort that includes EVgo handling maintenance and employees on site around the clock who know whom to call when needed, which explains a PlugShare reliability score of 9.41 out of 10. Wilcox said a single bad experience can linger far longer than operators expect. “If you see a brand that you perceive to be unreliable, you’re going to carry on down the road and go elsewhere,” he said.

The conversation covered loyalty programs that connect charging sessions with purchases inside the store, the future of Pilot’s medium and heavy-duty strategy, and early findings from Munford’s global EV charging study underway at Insight Research.

The Future of Convenience Podcast is available on all major podcast platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, with new episodes featuring global convenience retail leaders released every other Tuesday.