LOS ANGELES — Gas stations are rarely prized for their amenities. If there’s coffee, it’s often old, burned and borderline undrinkable. If there are sandwiches, they’re frequently prepackaged, stale and largely inedible. And the bathrooms? Most people shudder just thinking about them.

“What we’re trying to do is elevate the traditional rest stop,” said Lawrence Fung, co-founder of a business that hopes to leverage the mass adoption of electric vehicles to bring a more premium experience to refueling.

What You Need To Know

  • The Stack Charge is a Los Angeles-based business that plans to bring electric vehicle fast-charging hubs to LA and Orange counties within the next two years

  • It is currently building a hub in Baker with outdoor lounges, retail, a restaurant, restrooms, free Wi-Fi and 40 fast chargers

  • A location in Santa Ana is among up to 12 SoCal fast-charging hubs the Stack Charge is planning to build

  • The California Energy Commission says the state will need 1.2 million public and shared EV chargers by 2030

Think high-end coffee service like Blue Bottle and salads from a place like Sweetgreen. “Those are the groups that we would like to target to provide amenities,” said Fung, who co-founded Los Angeles-based Stack Charge last year to develop hubs of EV fast chargers that include retail, restaurants, Wi-Fi and restrooms.

The Stack Charge hubs are inspired, in part, by Tesla Supercharger stations like the one that’s being built in Hollywood with a diner and drive-in theater, as well as the one in Kettleman City halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco along Interstate 5. In addition to 96 chargers, some of which can add 200 miles of range in as little as 15 minutes, the central California Supercharger station includes a lounge with an espresso bar and vending machines with fresh sandwiches, as well as bathrooms and free Wi-Fi.

While a lot of the specifics have yet to be worked out, Fung and his business partner Lester Ciudad Real are planning to build between 8 and 12 Stack Charge hubs in Southern California, the majority of which will be built in LA and Orange counties within the next two years.

The Stack Charge is currently building a site in Baker, halfway between Las Vegas and LA along Interstate 15 that is expected to be open early next year. The one-acre site will have outdoor lounges, restrooms, retail, a restaurant and 40 DC fast chargers.

The company is currently siting specific SoCal locations with “strong fundamental retail locations,” Ciudad Real said, such as street corners and other high-traffic areas near freeways and shopping centers. The first LA-area hub is likely to be in Santa Ana near California State Route 55.

The number of chargers at the SoCal Stack Charge locations will vary by location, depending on the parcel size, but are likely to be between 12 and 20. Because Tesla currently makes up about 75% of the EV market, the sites are likely to include a number of Tesla Superchargers.

The Stack Charge hasn’t yet decided what other EV charger provider it will work with. Ciudad Real said they are talking to manufacturers and may own and operate their own branded stations as well.

“We’re trying to solve several problems,” Ciudad Real said.

First and foremost is a lack of EV charging stations.

Electric vehicles made up 16% of new vehicle sales in California in the first quarter of 2022, according to the nonprofit Veloz. EV sales from January through March were 29% higher than the fourth quarter of 2021, driven largely by skyrocketing gas prices. As of April, 1.14 million EVs have been sold in the state.

There are currently 79,023 EV chargers in California, but the Energy Commission estimates the state will need 1.2 million public and shared EV chargers by 2030 to support the 7.5 million plug-in passenger vehicles that are expected to be purchased by then.

The current charging network is a hodgepodge of disparate brands requiring different apps and methods of payment. Many of them are located in parking lots that may have just two or three chargers in one place and might be in use when a driver pulls up. They often lack readily available amenities.

Besides making more chargers available in convenient places, the Stack Charge wants to improve upon the poor experiences that currently exist around some charging locations. Not only will they include food and shopping, the Stack Charge hubs will be well lit to make it safe for people who charge at night, when rates are less expensive. They will also have restrooms available around the clock, which is the No. 1 complaint from Tesla drivers, Ciudad Real said.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story mentioned details involving Tesla that are not yet finalized. The story has been updated. (June 22, 2022)