Alimentation Couche-Tard’s annual investor day found the company looking ahead—about six hours ahead, which is the time difference between its Laval, Que., headquarters and Oslo. 

The convenience-store chain, which owns the Circle K brand, claims to be the most recognizable charging-station brand in Norway, a country that has been one of the fastest adopters of electric vehicles in the world. The Liberals said last month that new passenger cars and light-duty trucks sold in Canada must all be zero emission by 2035—10 years after Norway’s deadline. The Norwegian market offers lessons for the company’s planned North American charging push, said Hans-Olav Høidahl, Couche-Tard’s executive vice-president of European operations. Here are some of the key numbers from his presentation:

209: The number of EV charging stations Circle K currently owns at its Norway locations, with 170 more planned. Another 363 are provided by partners, including Tesla, but Høidahl said those partnerships “can or will” be insourced when the contracts end next year.

55%: The minimum amount of charging activity Circle K expects will happen at Norwegian EV owners’ homes, as opposed to at fuel stations. That figure could be as high as 75 per cent, said Høidahl, with another 20 per cent to 35 per cent of charging happening at the drivers’ destination. That leaves only about 10 per cent to 20 per cent of charging happening in transit. 

4,700: The number of home EV chargers Circle K has sold so far, making it the third-biggest supplier in Norway. It has contracts with another 1,500 business customers for chargers. 

Meanwhile, chief technology officer Deborah Hall Lefevre told investors she sees the “last mile” being transformed by the rise of delivery aggregators, and stores and kitchens that have gone “dark,” becoming fulfillment centres. The key number from her presentation: $100 million, the value of Circle K Ventures’ first fund. Couche-Tard formed the VC arm last year, and its first two investments were Pensa Systems, a shelf-stock and -layout software company, and Jackpocket, a virtual-lottery-ticket app. Lefevre said it has eight to 10 other potential investments under review. 

“We see distributed production and micro-fulfillment powered by robots, and more self-fulfillment possible through things like smart ovens and 3D printers, all creating new ways to deliver on anytime, anywhere expectations,” she said.

The bottom line: Increasingly, being a convenience store seems to mean bringing Circle K—be it lottery tickets or chargers—to you.

And if you have a designated driver…: Couche-Tard also said it has benefited from its early adoption of hard seltzer, which has seen “explosive growth.” The company said it sees “a clear path to majority control” from its 22 per cent stake in cannabis retailer Fire & Flower.