Water debuts EV-charging station at Burger King

Water, a Korean electric vehicle charging network operated by Brite Energy Partners, said Friday that it has installed fast chargers for EVs at a Burger King in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, as part of its collaborative efforts with retail brands.

Established in 2017, BEP finances, acquires and develops clean energy projects such as those in solar and renewable energy, while running clean energy producers and selling electricity. BEP has drawn about 330 billion won ($251 million) in investments so far, including 170 billion won investment from BlackRock, the world’s biggest investment firm based in the United States.

The installation marked the first time for Water to set up an EV charging station at the location of a food and beverage brand.

A total of four chargers, which feature a high-power rating of 200 kilowatt-hour, were installed at the Burger King Cheongju Bunpyeong drive-through store. Water explained that the charging time may differ depending on EV types and their battery status but it should take between 20 to 30 minutes for a 20 percent battery to reach 80 percent using its fast EV chargers.

“Once an EV driver connects (a car) to the charger, finishes up a meal and comes back to the car, the battery will be fully charged,” said Yu Dae-won, BEP’s chief investment officer in charge of Water’s EV charging business.

“We will try to provide ways for EV drivers to experience Water’s short-timed charging services and help them use the fast-charging infrastructures in a more convenient way.”

As seen in the case of its cooperation with Burger King, Water said it will offer up various ways to spend time more efficiently for users of their EV charging networks by teaming up with more retail brands in the future.

Water plans to continue opening EV chargers in national parks at Bukhan Mountain and Namhan Mountain Fortress as well as LetsRun Park Seoul this year. Water’s goal is to secure 100 charging networks nationwide by the end of 2025.