General Motors will partner with EV charging network Blink Charging to install electric vehicle charging stations at its dealerships in the United States and Canada, the two companies announced this week.
Blink Charging said Tuesday it has already shipped chargers to select GM dealerships in all 50 U.S. states and also has orders to supply more dealers in the U.S. and Canada with charging stations over the next several months. GM dealers will receive the Blink IQ 200 chargers, which are described as the “fastest Level 2 AC charging stations available,” with 80 Amps of output.
GM Ultium Charger
GM said last October that it would work hand-in-hand with its dealership network to install up to 40,000 Level 2 chargers across the U.S. and Canada through its Dealer Community Charging Program. This initiative will also see GM work with its dealers “to deploy Level 2 charging stations at key locations in the dealer’s respective communities, including workplaces, multi-unit dwellings, sports and entertainment venues and college and universities, among others.” The automaker says 90 percent of Americans currently live within 10 miles of a GM dealership.
“GM and its dealers will work together to expand access to charging in local communities including in underserved, rural and urban areas where EV charging access is often limited,” the automaker said in a statement last fall. “This initiative, which begins in 2022, is part of GM’s recently announced commitment to invest nearly $750 million to expand home, workplace and public charging infrastructure through its Ultium Charge 360 ecosystem.”
The Ultium Charge 360 ecosystem is described as a “holistic charging approach” that will see GM partner with a variety of third-party charging companies (including but not limited to Blink), as well as electric utility operators and government agencies, to set up more charging stations at workplaces and other public areas. The ecosystem also includes the rollout of helpful smartphone and vehicle apps that will make it easier to find charging stations and pay for charge time.
As GM Authority exclusively reported this week, the automaker recently filed to trademark PowerUp, which is expected to be the name of a new GM charging station for electric vehicles. This charging station could be designed for at-home use, giving GM EV owners an speedy way to charge up their vehicle while parked in their garage or driveway.
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Comments
Please put a 20” screen in charging station so as there is something to do as vehicle is being charged.
Thief’s are already stealing the cables and now you want to give them 20″ screens.
Charging stations at dealers? Owners of GM cars should be allowed to reserve a charger in advance at a dealer – a time slot of, say, an hour for the arrival and hookup to happen. Being able to do this would make traveling long distances feasible without wondering and worrying whether there will be a charger available at around the time you would plan to arrive.
I smell entitlement.
How so? GM serving its customers is a good thing.
Logistical nightmare for dealerships. Unless you worked at one you have no idea what I mean.
GM could make a lot of money being in the energy station business. Until now third party companies like Shell, Mobil, Citgo have provided fuel via stations or on partnership with chains like 7/11.
Imagine if every dealer had the option to franchise a Power Up station at both dealerships and in other prime locations? Power Up could even partner with chains like 7/11. In a gasoline world automakers were not part of the energy retail business but this could be a profit maker and having easy, fast and accessible recharging is key to wide spread adaption of EVs
Right now an EV is not desirable for long distance travel. Thought many manufacturers are bragging on range, the charge time will consume a lot of hours during a trip. It also will take planning when and where to charge. For local daily driving with a home charger, you can’t beat it. If you only own a EV and need to take a cross country trip, rent a gas powered vehicle.
As of Jan 2022, I agree that cross country in a BEV will take more time, patience and planning than would a trip in an ICE car. However, as we look to the coming years with the roll-out of more charging stations – this will change. For cross-country trips, fast chargers which require ~30min to “refuel” combined with level 2 chargers for overnight “fill ups” at hotels, will be more practical. I dont see these time requirements as a major issue.
However GM dealers providing level 2 chargers suggests that BEVs (1 vehicle for each charger) will be parked for 2-4 hours in their lots while charging – this doesnt seem like a great model.
I rented a Leaf and a Tesla in Phoenix while on a family visit.
I used Blink Level 2 for the Leaf and was shocked at how much juice it fed in 40 minutes – 40 miles. I didn’t need Level 3 to get to my destination ( I was expecting 15 miles at most).u
The Tesla Superchargers are just amazing with the car GPS supplying the route and stopping points and timing for a very simple easy to use experience.
We are only at the beginning of a clean and much better mode of transportation.
Volt/Bolt:
Well, the new Chinese-based ‘Blink’s (exactly the same as the Chinese Bosch products) seem to work well.
The original (ON THE) Blink was a horible piece of equipment which either never worked, or melted the car end of the charging cord onto the car itself.
Lets hope these newer models are of reliable construction.
So wrong!
Charging with a Tesla is a simple, easy and relaxed style of travel that may only add minutes to an hour on a 500 mile leg of a trip.
In a few years it will actually be better AND cheaper than gas travel.
I traveled across North America 4,000 miles on a Suzuki Gs400. now that was planning! ( and some camping behind bushes on the side of the road)😁
I’ve not seen anywhere what it actually cost to recharge EV batteries and time it takes to do it. Tomg
It is cheaper than gas in most instances by Supercharger, and 1/3 to 1/2 cost of gas when charged at home ( which is 90% of most people’s needs).
Electrician Companies and their owners are loving this ( our Son works for one and they just got a huge contract ) but no one is aware of the disruption the installations will create with the needed excavation work. Expect the price of Copper wire to triple or quadruple since these charging stations require very large, heavy gauge wire ( 6 or better ) which is already in short supply since the EV manufacturers use so much Copper and they haven’t ramped-up production to expected levels yet. Electric-generating Companies are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to provide, under current, restrictive EPA regulations, all the additional power these charging stations will suck up from a grid that is now strained to the limit in heavily populated areas.
If you’re in your twenties or in high school trying to figure out what to do for a carrier, the electric vehicle industry is wide open. It will take a hug effort going forward to an EV environment and it will take a lot of technicians both for servicing EV vehicles and charging stations. An EV tech will need a good computer background, not necessarily a mechanical one and with the overwhelming use of Smart Phones, even by my ten year old granddaughter, is pretty savvy on use of software and diagnostics.
Development of batteries and charging infrastructure has been amazing.
The grid will NOT suffer at all with smart planning.
All these batteries, once V2G (Vehicle to Grid) is established , will be assets for the car owners and the electrical suppliers.
BillJ598:
These docking stations (not to split hairs but the ‘charger’ is in the car, and these are docking stations since they are not ‘fast chargers’ or DCFC or Level 3, but merely the high end of Level 2 stations), but they require ‘better’ than #6 copper so they require #3 copper (twice the copper per foot) (specifically 2- #3 and 1-#8 safety ground, or an ‘economy installation’ 2- #1 Aluminum and 1 – #6 aluminum safety ground). As electrical installations go they won’t add that much copper or aluminum usage for a given big-box store since there are relatively few dealerships compared to the other number of businesses in a locale.
The typical installation will send around 200 volts to the car, and charge it at a 16 kw rate. A very few dealers may send 230 volts to the car and slightly over 18 kw to the car….
At Chevy dealers – what happened with the 25 kw fast chargers was that – after receiving the first electric bill – dealerships throttled the DC charger back to about 15 kw, but those $8000 Bosch Chargers are now constantly broke at most Chevy Dealerships.
As far as utilities themselves, they will not be harmed in the slightest – since they will recover any capital expense through monthly demand charges. The WOKE states (West Coast and Texas – specifically) can’t keep the electricity on WITH OR WITHOUT electric vehicles.
So is the GM agreement with EVgo still in existence also. GM publicized that for Level 3 public chargers?
Now your Bolt can catch on fire at the dealer the sold it to you!
As the owner of a Bolt: NONSENSE!!!
Many more gas cars go up in flames.
I now have the new battery with 8 year fresh warranty.
This little ‘pocket rocket’ is a great car.
Wow! Do some research Daniel. This is a dead subject. Last year 2021/ over 200/000 ICE/ Hybrid vehicles caught fire. EV only 52. Your just trolling here. Go away.
My 2022 Bolt is on order and cant wait to drive this fantastic vehicle.
You will not regret your decision.
I absolutely love the Bolt.
It is great for intracity travel and with the greater range I may consider longer trips for which I had originally bought the Volt 2 years ago.
I think GM is WAY behind the curve on all this EV stuff. Lots of dealers were ready to sell them, but almost no one can service them. Massive recall on Bolt for a simple reprograming, and my two local dealers (5 and 30 miles away) won’t touch them because they have to have a forklift and two EV certified techs. I’m just outside of Houston and called EV Concierge to find out only two regional dealers can reprogram it, or fix my “service pedestrian warning system), or deal with paint peeling off one of the luggage rack bars.
You are most unfortunate.
My local dealer has only one EV tech. Battery replaced in half day. No problems.
Now your bolt can catch on fire at the dealer that sold it to you.
Am I the only one that does not understand the point of a level 2 Charging Station at a Dealership?
Who exactly is this setup supposed to assist? Am I missing the bigger picture here with what GM is trying to do?
Is this just for Future BEV’s that once in a blue moon get serviced for something that the dealership can charge the Car while sitting a day or so in their Shop? It is the only thing I can think of. Even if that is the reason, why would GM pay for this and not the dealerships?