GM is going all-in on EVs, with plans to transition its entire light-duty vehicle portfolio to electric power by 2035. Unsurprisingly, that transition includes the installation of new EV chargers around prominent GM facilities and buildings, such as the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit. With that in mind, it would make sense to limit charging access in front of the GM Ren Cen to strictly GM vehicles, right?
If you’re confused, here’s a little background. In the very front of the GM Ren Cen in downtown Detroit is a drive-up loop for unloading passengers. The drop-off loop also includes a few charging stalls for EVs, which obviously follows GM’s all-electric ambitions. However, upon a recent visit to the GM Ren Cen, GM Authority didn’t find GM EVs parked in the charging stalls, but rather a Tesla Model Y and Rivian R1S. Interestingly, the Tesla and Rivian also appeared to be personally owned, as they weren’t wearing manufacturer license plates, thus reducing the odds the two rival products were in use as vehicles to benchmark the competition.
Indeed, allowing a pair of non-GM EVs to park and charge in front of the GM Ren Cen is, well, a little odd. After all, the charging stalls are right off a busy street (Jefferson) and highly visible, especially in front of the imposing Renaissance Center, a building which could be considered the “house of GM.”
In addition, most GM facilities (such as plants, offices, parts distribution centers, etc.) have a policy that only allows GM vehicles to park in front or close to the building, while non-GM vehicles are required to park in back.
So then, the question becomes this – should GM limit EV charging in front of the GM Ren Cen to only GM vehicles?
Of course, the counterpoint to all this is that the charging stalls are public charging stations, and that anyone with an EV (including non-GM models) can use them. However, we think GM should do something about that, either in terms of building its own chargers, or modifying its contract with the proper municipality and/or charging station provider to ensure that only GM EVs can use such highly visible stalls.
Comments
When we travelled in the summer in our 2022 Bolt EUV we saw in tourist areas where there was limited EV charger access that often Teslas were using the non Tesla chargers just to get a preferred parking space, which left us unable to charge when we really needed it. The GM chargers in front of corporate headquarters should definitely be limited to only GM vehicles. These other vehicles have access to plenty of other chargers.
Good reason to drive ICE! This will only worsen.
Carl, seriously shut up, no one cares what an old fossil like you thinks. You come in here every time there’s an article about EVs spewing some ignorant backwards crap. You have no actual facts or data to back up anything The only argument you can make is “EVs are bad”. You seem unable to wrap your brain around the fact that electric vehicles are the future. I’m sure when cars first came out there was someone like you complaining about them and saying that horse-drawn carts were better. But progress marches forward and leaves people like you behind.
Hey Pity, instead of busting on Carl, re-read Beth’s comment and understand what she has conveyed to you. She laid out one of many big problems coming for the EV crowd.
The “shut-up” toward Carl is your way of saying you don’t want to face the problems in the EV world….you just want to blindly proceed without real, on-the-ground issues like Beth has stated.
If you’re pro-EV, that’s great. Carl’s certainly entitled to be anti-EV. It really makes no difference in your world view.
She didn’t plan very well.
I have nothing against EV technology, I am a mechanical engineer, my problem is with GM teaming up with our woke government to force them down our throats. I will always resist that, plus I believe it is a stupid business move by GM.
Carl, you can relax on that point…No one will be forcing it down your throat since there are relatively few evs sold in the first place – and if woke governments tried it, the plan would never fly.
I drive 3 plug-ins but would never force anyone else’s choice of vehicle they purchased…. More evs will be sold in the future, but will probably always be a minority of vehicles sold, unless it makes so much more economic sense to purchase an EV.
A bigger concern is my (NY) state’s, as well as California – banning new gas hookups to new construction – since it doesn’t immediately affect anyone. It might take considerable complaining by the public to arise prior to governments changing their dopey policies.
“no one cares”? You care so much that you write a lomg comment to put this “old fossil” in its place.
That Babushka on your head and your crystal ball are failing you terrifically. Keep it up, the men in white coat are very near.
I think this says it all, and answers the Tesla part of the question..
**”What cars can use Tesla chargers?
It’s important to know that only Tesla’s can use the Tesla high-speed superchargers. No exceptions. There are currently no available adapters that can enable you to use one of these on a non-Tesla vehicle. However, there are rumors that Tesla may eventually open its Supercharger network for other electric cars.Apr 19, 2022″**
That’s outdated. Superchargers are open to non-Tesla vehicles in European countries on a pilot basis.
For those who are unclear, Tesla vehicles can be charged by standard AC SAE J1772 plugs (it’s a CA emissions requirement) and most can be used with an adapter for standard DC fast charging (CCS Combo 1) and Asian DC fast charge (CHAdeMO).
I hope gm is learning how to run a production line and not worrying about such silly questions as cars around it’s HQ.
There are many other tenants in the RenCen besides GM. This chargers out front go back to the Volt days. It’s been a common sight to see non GM vehicles charging out in front of the RenCen for years.
Simple answer:
Install many more charge stations in ALL GM locations.
Exactly. Not just GM locations, but more non Tesla chargers everywhere. We charge at home and do not take many long trips, so it is usually not a problem for us. However, there was a storm locally a few months ago and it knocked out our power for 4 days. People were lined up at the gas stations in a panic. We used our EV with OnStar and got online and charged up our phones. Also, we were able to travel to the next town and use their DC fast charger at the local mall to charge up the car.
It’s hard to foresee convenience stores/gas stations not asserting themselves as the fast charging go-to.
In Canada some are already starting such as some Petro-Canada stations, but it is not consistent yet.
I live in Montana drive a Duramax
Unless you charge at home you are almost SOL
Don’t care what they do in Detroit
Yes. Keep the charging open to all, especially to tesla. Make a point gm is open to all for ev charging where tesla isnt. It might be good to charge $ or charge extra $ for teslas. Gm is, after all a buisness.
When the new GM EV’s start rolling out in volume natural selection will fill those charging spots with GM cars. The EV haters don’t understand that you can love both kinds of car. We have a Kona EV and a GMC in our garage and it is the perfect fit in our house. Lots of people have both cats and dogs at the same time.
Can anybody charge at these chargers free of charge, or do the users pay for the charge? In the latter case, why bother?
I’m sure that the users pay.
Otoh. The cost of charging is usually pretty cheap. At this location, it’s probably less than parking.
Thnx for the reply. Re parking fees and BEV charging: I have been told that in Paris, one does not pay the amount of electrical energy taken up but the time on the parking lot, and that the parking fee depends on the charging power of the charger. So, when you park your car there for the whole night, you pay the full, say, 8 hours, even if your car’s battery was full after 3 hours.
Parking space is scarce in Paris.
Maybe for typical parking, charge speed won’t matter so much. Traditional style coin parking meters with house current cords may be acceptable.
If the electric future is so amazing, it should be amazing for everyone.
They are using EvGo Stations so why would they limit to Only GM vehicles?
I’m coming to this article extremely late, but in an era where so many are saying the success or failure of EVs depend on a multitude of charging stations, it would seem good that we avoid company-specific charging stations as this will lead to fracturing. If gm’s EVs are good enough, then they should not feel challenged by a competitor charging alongside their vehicles. If they are not good enough, then gm needs to step up and ensure they are not falling behind.
I am not sure if this has already been said (I do not have time to read everyone else’s comments), but, until we have as plentiful a supply of EV charging stations as widely as we have gasoline filling stations, the priority should always be to GM vehicles at any station that GM has caused to be there. That is the same for every brand of vehicle. If the owner of a GM vehicle comes to a spot where there is another brand of vehicle, the non-GM-brand vehicle should forfeit the remainder of its charging time until the GM vehicle is adequately charged to that owner’s satisfaction. This is particularly true of Teslas, which have autonomous driving capabilities such that the vehicle could move itself to an open parking stall some other place in the parking lot.
Yeah, there aren’t enough places to charge an EV, so let’s start locking each other out of the few that do exist.
Good idea.