It’s not easy for some car buyers to even think of making the switch to an electric car, and charging infrastructure remains a major obstacle. General Motors announced Wednesday it plans to make charging a tad easier with new collaborations between EVgo, ChargePoint, and Greenlots.
The three companies are a few of the largest in the United States that operate charging stations, and GM will work directly with them to consolidate information and create a more seamless experience for Chevrolet Bolt EV owners. Today, electric car owners must carry multiple membership cards to access a charging station from various companies; GM wants to house all company memberships inside the myChevrolet smartphone app.
Additionally, the myChevrolet app will show real-time data for charging stations from the three companies, including if the station is available for a driver to park and charge. Bolt EV drivers will also be able to see if a station houses the correct charger cable or if the station is down for maintenance.
In total, GM will be able to show data to Bolt EV owners of 31,000 charging stations across the U.S.
It’s a very small step to make charging more accessible to more drivers. Most charging stations aren’t centrally located to drivers like fuel stations are. More often than not, stations are often offline, too. And the fact charging stations don’t accept credit cards to activate a charger remains perplexing to this day. Although, drivers can often call the company and initiate a charging session with their credit card over the phone.
Home chargers remain the easiest way for drivers who are serious about embracing the EV lifestyle to live with an electric car. That is, until chargers juice batteries up in fewer than five minutes.
Comments
Infrastructure is a key for the future for all EV vehicles.
One other issue is urban charging. Where when and how for city dwellers who are the prime market for an EV needs to be solved.
If you do not have a garage or even a consistent parking spot how will you charge?
Smart move by GM if they want to pursue this means of mobility whole hog like they say.
This is great news! If they’d make the MyChevy app compatible with CarPlay so this information could be accessed while driving, along with trip routing, that would be even more useful. Availability information is really useful, and the ability to schedule a pre-paid DC Fast Charger time would be really handy, too, so people know they’ll be able to use the station when they arrive.
How is it that “more often than not, stations are often offline, too”? Can you cite something showing that? That hasn’t been my experience at all. Popular stations are—frustratingly—often in use, but most have worked quite reliably. Unlike gas stations, where one pump can be out of order and people can still get gas, there are so few EV charging stations right now that one problem can be a real issue in getting to your destination as planned.
Also, many stations *do* accept credit cards without an account or RFID fob. ChargePoint stations allow you to tap your credit card or pay with Apple Pay.
As an owner of both a Chevy Volt and a Cadillac ELR I hate to say this, but with all the support GM did for both those vehicles it has made me save towards a new or even used Tesla.
The Volt is an amazing car that GM is kicking to the sideline, as usual. I wonder what Charles Kettering and Alfred P. Sloan would be thinking.