East Palo Alto, Calif. -- Ikea said Thursday it has plugged in four Blink Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations at its East Palo Alto, Calif., store. The initiative is in partnership with ECOtality and represents the eighth EV project for IKEA in the United States.

To charge an EV at Ikea East Palo Alto, drivers pull into a designated parking spot, swipe their Blink InCard (RFID card), and plug the charger into the EV to charge the vehicle.

“Ikea has a never-ending job of asking what we can do today for a better tomorrow,” said Jill Matherson, Ikea East Palo Alto store manager. “Hosting electric-vehicle charging stations at Ikea East Palo Alto is one way to help accomplish this goal – and we could not have done it without the support of our partners ECOtality and PG&E.”

Ikea also is installing electric vehicle charging stations at nine stores in the Western United States.