Los Angeles is in recovery mode after a series of wildfires burned through roughly 40,000 acres last month, causing an estimated $15 billion in damage, destroying more than 12,000 homes and businesses, and displacing tens of thousands of residents. With 29 fatalities reported, the disaster ranks among the worst wildfires in the state. In response, GM is stepping in to provide aid through mobile EV charging, financial relief, and other disaster recovery efforts.
With many wildfire victims losing access to home charging, GM will deploy several mobile EV charging stations across the L.A. metro area from February through April. The effort includes three General Motors HydroTec fast chargers, which use renewable hydrogen, as well as three Yoshi Mobility trailers, which are powered by liquid propane. Each HydroTec fast charger and Yoshi Mobility trailer can charge two EVs simultaneously. General Motors is also deploying one InCharge Energy station, which provides five fast charging plugs and is powered by battery storage and a biodiesel generator. Further information on the EV chargers will be announced as they are deployed.
In addition, General Motors is offering payment deferrals for qualifying customers impacted by the fires, as well as discounts on new vehicles for those whose GM vehicles were damaged or destroyed, collision repair deductible coverage for wildfire-related vehicle damage, and expedited parts shipments to General Motors dealerships in affected areas to help speed up repairs.
Beyond direct customer support, General Motors is contributing to broader recovery efforts with donations to nonprofits assisting wildfire victims, including schools and community programs, as well as employee giving campaigns supporting the Red Cross and California Fire Foundation, plus vehicle donations to the Red Cross for use in emergency aid efforts.
Impacted customers can use OnStar Crisis Assist to speak directly with an OnStar advisor, while impacted residents can also access GM’s recovery assistance programs through the following channels:
- GM Financial Assistance: call 1-800-284-2271
- GM Energy Support: visit the GM Energy website for details on services, adapters, and public charging locations
- Find a GM Dealer: Locate a nearby service center for vehicle repairs and assistance
Comments
I would imagine this is about trying to save GM’s EV business. It’s not just pure generosity. If folks are suddenly homeless and living in temporary housing and thereby can’t recharge their vehicles in the manner they’re accustomed to and are severely inconvenienced by that, their next vehicle purchase may not be an EV. This would be very bad for GM that has gone all-in on electrics. It’s not much but if EV owners can get to one of these stations, it’ll help ameliorate the inconvenience.
I’m also reading that all the burned-out EVs in the garages of destroyed PacPal homes are hampering recovery efforts as the batteries in the vehicle carcass is now hazardous waste requiring special mitigation efforts to clean up. I would think if it takes EV owners twice as long to clean-up and rebuild as the folks that had ICE cars in their garages, that will hurt EV adoption in the area too.
So true.
I finally got it. It’s been right in front of our faces all the time.
If you want to extend the range of your EV just tow one of these generators behind you.
Or GM could equip your new EV with a portable generator in the trunk in place of the spare tire.
Just kidding. Don’t give GM any ideas.
Wtf is the point of running a genni to charge afng electric car?!
the answer to carbon emissions
Larry W, Exactly, If You Could Read you may have noticed it was a joke. I can see you can’t write.
mmm, don’t need this headache with ICE, just imagine
People keep forgetting that gas stations need power to operate and need to not be burned to the ground to operate as well. EV and ICE owners are running into the same issues in the burn zone.
Leave it to the commenters here to turn this story into a sounding board for their irrational fear of EVs.
The whole idea of EV is to “save the planet” . As one EV burns, it releases unspeakable pollution that can never be reversed, thanks to the extreme toxicity of the battery content. Good ol’ gas and oil may pollute too, but never to the extreme toxicity of a burning lithium or equivalent, battery pack.
Larry W, Never say never.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico spilled 134 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf, and killed 11 people. The spill ruined the fisheries and the livelihood of thousands of people. The region is still feeling the effects of this spill and the fisheries to this day have not fully recovered.
This is only one of many oil spills in the US and around the world. Fires at oil refineries are a fairly common occurrence.
You’ll have a hard time convincing anyone that oil is a clean industry and doesn’t have a environmental impact worldwide.
Ehdit0r,
As far as I know, GM never came rushing in to any disaster zone, whether it be floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc., with a mobile fueling station. Availability of fuel, even during two OPEC-induced fuel shortage periods was never GM’s concern; for over a hundred years. They built the hardware, others supplied to fuel. Yet this time, here they are with fossil fuel powered mobile EV charging stations. It obviously begs the question why. My theory, as stated above, is because they see the disruption of simple in-home charging as a huge blow to future EV sales and thus their plans to become an all-electric carmaker.
As far as your assertion of an irrational fear, I do not, and never have, had a fear of EVs but I think an honest dialogue about their pros and cons should’ve been had and let consumers decide whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks before we embark on a national transition. Instead of that, there has been a cabal of climate alarmists that’ve decreed we shall go forth into an all-EV future and they’ve decided that any talk of the very real disadvantages must be shut down.
I really don’t care what kind of car people drive or how it is powered. I’m not afraid of EVs, or horses and buggies for that matter. I do think it’s amusing though to see those like Barra who didn’t bother to take the pulse of the people first before jumping headfirst into an all-EV future suddenly realizing maybe the car buying public won’t be following her lead. She famously decreed “Everybody In” on EVs but didn’t wait to hear from consumers, many of which are now saying, no, we’re not in.
DOES ANYONE SEE THE IRONY IN THIS–THE GENERATOR (RUNNING ON GAS) ???
Bubba, you really think you were the first? lol
GM—YOU BEST fire your whole PR dept for this photo being released.