General Motors has announced a national network of quick charging stations for electric vehicles to be installed at Pilot and Flying J truck stops. Managed by EVgo (a subsidiary of the South Korean LS Group), the network may be the final piece of the puzzle for GM to make good on its promise to go all-electric. It’s already spent oodles on development, created partnerships with global battery suppliers, and now has a glut of EVs on the way –a glut of product that GM is hoping will resonate with consumers.
However, the only brand that really gets to brag about EV sales is Tesla and many have rightfully attributed a large portion of the brand’s successes to its formerly proprietary charging network. While the company managed to get a lot right with EVs, as other manufacturers floundered, having the world’s largest (now public in Europe) grouping of 150 kW+ charging points has clearly helped spur Tesla sales as customers felt more confident they could top their vehicle off when venturing far from home. GM has wisely opted to follow suit by having 2,000 individual charging points installed at 500 truck stops across the United States.
The chargers will be co-branded “Pilot Flying J” and “Ultium Charge 360” to make sure all involved parties are properly accredited. Though we don’t know how many people know that Ultium is the name GM chose for its electric vehicle battery and powertrain technologies, possibly warranting the inclusion of the company’s hideous new logo that was introduced in 2021.
Chargers are said to offer fast charging services “up to” 350 kW and are part of a larger strategy that includes EVgo and GM working together to add more than 3,250 fast chargers in American cities and suburbs by the end of 2025. From the sound of things, EVgo will be doing most of the actual work on these stations (construction, maintenance, etc.) while General Motors foots the bill. Designs will be determined by what’s feasible by location, though the automaker said it wants to outfit stations with “canopies to help protect customers from the elements” and “pull-through capability allowing convenient charging for electric pickup trucks and SUVs pulling trailers.”
Considering the only EVs I’ve seen towing something have all been part of tests to see how it impacts range, that latter element may not be all that useful until battery capacities come up. However, nobody should fault GM for looking ahead, especially with this being the summer of the all-electric pickup and the industry promising that electric semis are right around the corner.
“We are committed to an all-electric, zero-emissions future, and ensuring that the right charging infrastructure is in place is a key piece of the puzzle,” said Mary Barra, GM Chair and Chief Executive Officer. “With travel centers across North America, Pilot Company is an ideal collaborator to reach a broad audience of EV drivers.”
Automakers have started to realize that one of the biggest hurdles for growing EV sales has been a lack of access to charging. GM even cited some third-party research claiming that “widespread access to highway charging, particularly in underserved urban and rural areas, is a significant barrier to mass EV adoption.”
So it’s little wonder that the corporation is prepared to shell out nearly $750 million in investments to help the cause. We just hope the power grid is ready.
A map of the truck stop stations can be viewed below. But General Motors is also making moves in Canada and Europe and plans to have up to 40,000 chargers installed at local dealer communities through GM’s Dealer Community Charging Program.
[Images: GM]
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I gasoline powered car spends less than 10 minutes blocking a gas pump. An EV will spend 45 minutes, minimum. You need five times as many EV charging points as you need gas station pumps – on a road separating two large cities, like Dallas and Houston, or between Dallas and San Antonio. Literally millions of public charge points will be needed. A few thousand is nothing. Call me when GM decides to install a million charge points across the country, that would be the beginnings of a start.
Electric vehicles charge at home adding a minimum of 100 miles overnight. No need to go to a gas station ever!
If you are wired for that level of charging.
All garage have 120v outlet and can 100 miles of range overnight.
Level 1 charging gives a rate of about 4 miles per hour. So unless you live in the Arctic Circle that will not give you 100 miles overnight.
getneocharge.com/blog-post/three-levels-
of-electric-car-charging
(I’m linking to this site, but saw several others that used 3-5 miles per hour for level 1.)
36% of of USA population are not homeowners.
Many homes do not have a garage.
Many condo and apartment residents have no access to electrical outlet for vehicles.
I am hardly a road warrior nowadays and while my driving falls comfortably in the range of most EVs, I often exceed 100 miles a day and would eventually need to hit a fast charger.
36% of USA population are not homeowners.
Most advocates of the green dream do not understand that concept. And not even all the homeowners have the ability to charge. Not every home has a garage. And not every home is a free standing single family home. Many people live in condos.
Judging from my time on here, I will be willing to bet the most people here are of above average means. But not everybody who has a house and a garage can afford to install a charging station. Is the U.S. government going to pay for everybody to install one? I think the auto industry and other industries who are going to profit from this should pay for that, not us.
“ Most advocates of the green dream do not understand that concept.”
You’ve obviously not spent any time discussing this with EV advocates or reading the online conversations. Widespread availability of charging is a major topic.
Oberkanone – yes, around a third of US residents would currently fine it hard to charge due to living in apartments. that leaves about two thirds who do live in houses. Even though not all of them are currently setup to do full charging at home, many of them are.
There is no reason to expect that the current status quo of charging is all we will ever have. Housing listings are starting to note if the house is EV-ready. I’ve seen apartment complexes advertise that they offer parking with charging (probably not all but it’s a start). Some cities are experimenting with putting chargers on their streets. (Not just Europe or the left coast, but Kansas City)
No one is expecting the whole country to switch to EVs overnight. This is going to take decades as the technology matures, manufacturing switches over, and customer’s taste begin to shift. Even then the turnover rate means that EVs will continue to be a minority for the next decade. That gives us time to build up the power generation capacity and add charging options to more homes and businesses.
36% of USA population are not car owners.
Today, anyone who dares oppose this wonderful corporate green dream is viewed a regressive MAGA Republican. But this Democrat does not see how this hairbrained idea is going to work. Not only are they going to have to assemble tons of charging stations stations and extract a cost on the environment to do that, but all the minerals for these batteries come from overseas, which will make us transportation dependent. And no, the batteries cannot be easily recycled. What am I missing here?
Spoken by a true person who has no clue about ev charging. All new EVs are 15-20 minutes charging time when doing long trips because you do not charge above 70-80% and when you charge at 150kw+ the time is way shorter than “45 minutes minimum”…at least look it up before you make claims.
I have a pretty good idea about electric charging. 90% of the time chargers don’t run at full speed and often only run at double digits (for example, National Geographic reports that 30 minutes to fill to 80% is the typical charging rate as of June of last year). Filling 70-80% in a leaf vs a lightning is a huge difference- but 20 minutes to from 25-75% isn’t unusual at public stations in a leaf. More than once, there have been studies showing 25% of public charging points are down at any given time.
So even though they often advertise 150ish speeds, that is just so rare that they even come close to that and I’d bet you’d see 35-50 more than you’d see anything over 100. And don’t even get started on when they start over 100 and then 2 minutes later they drop to 20-30.
Don’t expect any truth at all from the naysayers.
Electric cars are very good right now, and will be charge faster and go much farther in a couple of years.
Trolls gotta troll, what else do they know how to do?
I’m planning a trip from Coure D’Alene, Idaho to Bismarck, North Dakota in my new Hummer Vacationmobile.
I can’t wait, thank goodness GM has got me covered to make this quick and seamless.
That was just a facetious commentary about how far apart the chargers in this proposed system are. It’s not all-encompassing, in spite of the hype.
The coffee robot at Pilot does a fine job (no – hey! – not those pots over there – this machine over here). Choose your beans and it grinds them *right now* and brews them while you wait.
A perfect task for automation.
Build it and they won’t come.
The Buick owner already lives in a golf cart community…what’s the difference?
A golf cart is one thing but traveling long distances or across country an EV won’t work for many of us. As a former Buick owner not all Buick owners live in golf cart communities. EVs work for some and I could see them for short trips or commuting but I can wait till they are more competitive and more infrastructure. Not opposed just not all that much into them and can wait.
many Buick owners drive south winters. obviously you are either ignorant or flippant.
We own a Buick and frankly we will never live in a golf community or in a hot climate, or in a condo. Don’t be so quick to generalize…
Shouldn’t you be in China where Buick is somewhat desirable?
“We are committed to a second bankruptcy and future acquisition by TBTF Tesla” said Mary Barra.
Elon Musk probably isn’t interested.
Depending on when this would occur in the future there may be value to Tesla in a GM fire sale (assuming whatever technology GM is developing is any good vs Tesla).
The Biden Administration is funding a massive EV infrastructure build out. My guess this, and Tesla’s pending opening of their US superchargers to all, is part of this initiative. As in Europe, in order to be a funding recipient, you have to have universal access. All good news, but all involved should be mentioned.
With Gm’s history of lack of quality I can only imagine the sub-par build quality and durability of these units.
I haven’t shopped a GM product for over 25 years now, this is another “GM? No way” moment for me.
Yawn.
GM sucks, and another bailout will be required in 10 years because of their “all in” approach to garbage technology.
EV’s suck, and it’s exhausting hearing about technology that’s barely developed and inaccessible to 99% of consumers.
Next.
How many fast charging points has GM installed at it’s dealerships?
General Motors is meaningless marketing, corrupt management, and destined to another bankruptcy.
i’m excited about EV’s and have one, but i do think that they are an economic differentiator. I have a house, the ability to put a faster charger in my house and as a result get an effective 150mpge based on today’s gas prices…. Sucks that the people that need the cheap transportation, live far from work in apts and work multiple low paying jobs aren’t going to reap the benefits…. It’s going to be quite a while until an EV can be someone’s only vehicle.
It would be instructive to have a commonly understood way to rate vehicles in cost of operation per mile. MPD – Miles per dollar, perhaps.
It would immediately become how much wiser it is to use an electric vehicle, which would cost a few pennies per mile to recharge, or, say, 20 MPD, than a diesel bro-dozer, which would be closer to 50 cents per mile, or 2 MPD.
As always, those who can, do.
Those who can’t, “announce.” So that the drone army of theft enriched, wholly incompetent and illiterate Fed welfare recipients who the theft rackets have transferred all wealth to by now, can then “invest.” Then save their “investment” with even more theft, in the form of bailouts. Because, like, it’s like, visionary and, like, Musk and save the planet and, like, stuff! And “we” like, need it! Like!
I doubt anyone at GM has ever been to a truck stop unless it was one that Pilot et al thoroughly went over.
I watch Bonehead Truckers on YT and between that and the stuff I see at truck stops I don’t think that’s where most well-heeled EV owners will want to hang out. Between the trash, poop bags, and pee bottles, I am sure that EV-ers will get an eyeful of humanity!
Would have been better off at Starbucks or Panera.