- BMW, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis reach an agreement to create a new EV charging network across North America.
- The agreement means 30,000 extra charging points will be added to the region.
- New chargepoints will offer both CCS and NACS connections.
EV charging infrastructure in North America levels up
Kept under wraps up until now, seven major car manufacturers have announced the joint creation of a new charging network for the United States and Canada. The first chargepoints are set to open next year.
The 30,000 planned high-power chargers will be open for all EV customers regardless of brand, as the points will use both CCS connections and the NACS connection – the latter being Tesla’s own creation which many of these manufacturers are adopting in their future models.
The news is a significant boost to the region’s current charging infrastructure. For context, the USA alone has 32,000 DC fast chargers across the nation, highlighting the significance of this new addition of 30,000 charging points. The USA’s own National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates that the country will need around 182,000 DC chargers to cope with the increasing levels of electric cars on the road, by 2030.
As well as the massive increase in infrastructure hopefully encouraging more to switch to low-emission electric vehicles, the companies also plan to power the facilities solely off of renewable energy sources.
Stations are set to be built along major highways and roads across North America, and primarily in locations where amenities like food and toilet facilities are already in place. However, they will also open up a number of ‘flagship’ stations with their own amenities. You can look at Porsche’s new ‘charging lounge’, to get an idea of what they might entail.
What are the manufacturers saying?
“GM’s commitment to an all-electric future is focused not only on delivering EVs our customers love, but investing in charging and working across the industry to make it more accessible. The better experience people have, the faster EV adoption will grow.”
Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors
“To accelerate the shift to electric vehicles, we’re in favor of anything that makes life easier for our customers. Charging is an inseparable part of the EV-experience, and this network will be another step to make it as convenient as possible.”
Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz
