Could the next coffee stop also give 300 miles of driving range in just ten minutes? That’s the promise behind the first 400 kW DC fast charging installation of Mercedes Benz High Power Charging North America at a Starbucks in Red Bluff, California a move that blends ultra-fast EV charging with one of the most recognizable retail footprints in the country.
The new chargers are engineered to serve both Mercedes Benz customers and the broader EV community, with each bay equipped for both North American Charging Standard and Combined Charging System connectors. This is one of the longest-standing hurdles in public charging: interoperability. Originally from Tesla, NACS provides a compact design that repurposes AC pins for DC charging, thus enabling reduced hardware and faster plug-in. Conversely, CCS aimed to bring AC and DC charging under one inlet while providing backward compatibility with the existing Type 1 and Type 2 connectors. Offering both, Mercedes ensures compatibility with nearly all modern EVs, while avoiding the fragmentation that has slowed down infrastructure growth.
These chargers are really pushing the envelope of state-of-the-art DC fast charging at 400 kW. Advanced thermal management systems are required-both in the charger and vehicle-to safely provide up to 300 miles of range in about ten minutes. High-power charging generates a great deal of heat in the cables, connectors, and battery packs; liquid-cooled cables and onboard intelligent power modulation can assure safety and performance. Vehicle-side BMS must manage charging rates with precision to avoid lithium plating, while the station’s power electronics balance the output across several stalls to prevent grid instability.
The Red Bluff site represents the first in a planned rollout to electrify up to 100 Starbucks locations across the US, part of a broader US$1 billion investment in long-distance EV travel. By 2030, Mercedes-Benz HPC North America will operate approximately 400 hubs with more than 2,500 fast-charging points in the US and Canada. The I-5 corridor-a 1,400-mile artery connecting Canada to Mexico-lies at the core of this strategy. With heavy commercial and recreational traffic, it’s already a proving ground for large-scale charging deployments, building on the foundation set by the West Coast Electric Highway, which has enabled zero-emission road trips since 2011.
Adding ultra-fast chargers to retailers like Starbucks also reflects a growing trend toward destination charging. Restaurants, coffee shops, and retail stores are increasingly seeing charging infrastructure as a means to draw customers in, similar to what Pilot Travel Centers and Target have done in recent months. This model not only provides amenities during the charging session but also leverages high-visibility real estate with ease of access from major highways.
Grid load management at scale presents yet another engineering challenge for deployments, as a single 400 kW charger can pull as much power as a small commercial building, while multi-stall sites can easily overshoot the capacity of local distribution networks. Solutions include on-site battery storage to buffer peak demand, dynamic load balancing across chargers, and integration with renewable energy sources. Mercedes’ recent V2G-capable models hint at future bidirectional charging capabilities, where parked EVs might help stabilize local grids during peak load events. This also reflects the shifting landscape of adoption, as both NACS and CCS are included.
Tesla’s NACS now accounts for a majority of DC fast charging ports in the US, uptime is over 99%, while there have been reports of higher failure rates for CCS installations. However, CCS is the dominant standard among European and American automakers, and ISO-15118 compliance supports advanced features like Plug & Charge authentication. In its support for both, Mercedes does not lock users into one ecosystem while it positions its network to adapt as the market preferences change. This launch comes amid a series of leadership changes at Mercedes Benz HPC North America, with Andrew Cornelia leaving to take up a position as global head of electrification and sustainability at Uber.
The move underlines how competitive the EV infrastructure sector has become, where talent and strategy are every bit as relevant as hardware capabilities. With several more I-5 corridor locations expected to be announced through 2025, this Starbucks partnership will serve as one of the highest-profile use cases in how to merge consumer convenience with leading-edge charging technology and make what’s traditionally been a coffee break also the place for a rapid refueling stop in the electric era.
