Almost 1,000 Dealers Have Signed Up for GM's Community Charging Program
Electric vehicles offer longer-range estimates and faster charging times than ever, but none of that matters if there’s nowhere to charge in the first place. General Motors hopes to improve the charging situation – at least at its dealers – in the next few years, with tens of thousands of Level 2 chargers.
GM’s Dealer Community Charging Program aims to bring charging to underserved areas with units installed at participating dealers. Almost 1,000 have signed up to receive up to 10 19.2-kW chargers, and the automaker will help connect dealers with installers.
All in, GM wants to install 40,000 chargers across the U.S. and Canada, which it says will almost double the number of public Level 2 chargers. Though they’re located behind enemy lines on dealers’ lots, the chargers won’t be locked to GM vehicles. The company said it would open the network to all EVs. GM has said customers can pay for charging through its app.
The GM program starts in January 2023 and will involve all of the company’s brands. The company says that 90 percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a GM dealership, which could be a major step toward encouraging widespread adoption. Apartment dwellers, renters, and people living in very old homes may have trouble getting a home charger or may not be able to install a charger at all, so a nearby public charger is a significant benefit.
[Image: General Motors]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
More by Chris Teague
Comments
Join the conversation
Remember to change your oil every 60 days.
EV charger on a GM lot, probably with a Cummins generator to keep them running. A regular melting pot haha
I would hope the Diesel Gen. Set in the GM lot would be an 12V71. I would go over to the dealership just to listen to the Rocky Mountain Hummingbird sing at full load!
"tens of thousands of Level 2 chargers"
That's just a dryer plug isn't it?