GM, Other Big Automakers Form EV Charging Joint Venture

In addition to vehicle affordability, the other major challenges in convincing drivers to switch from internal combustion engines to electric propulsion are related to charging, specifically the availability of chargers and the time it takes to charge. Over the past several years, legacy automotive brands have launched several dozen new electric models, and while they have taken market share from Tesla, the upstart remains the dominant EV player in North America in large part because of its proprietary Supercharger network. Now seven automakers (or six depending on how you count them) are teaming up to directly take on the Tesla Supercharger hegemony.

General Motors, BMW Group, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Stellantis are forming a joint venture that aims to install at least 30,000 new DC fast charging stations across North America by 2030. A similar JV called Ionity already exists in Europe with some of the same automakers, including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai Motor Group, Ford, and VW Group. Ionity has 517 locations live with 2,612 chargers operational in 24 countries.

Mercedes-Benz has previously announced plans to build its own network of 2,500 chargers at 400 locations and GM has been developing a network with EVGo and Pilot with more than 4,000 chargers in total. It’s not clear if those existing plans will be rolled into the joint venture or if this will be fully in addition to those.

Update: GM and Mercedes-Benz have both confirmed that their existing charging initiatives will remain separate programs and won’t be included in the joint-venture, thus the 30,000 are all in addition to what has been announced previously.

Numerous consumer surveys have shown charging time and availability to be key barriers to EV adoption, and studies of existing networks have indicated that as many as one-quarter of the non-Tesla chargers may be inoperable at any given time. This is why multiple automakers, including Ford, GM, Mercedes-Benz, Rivian and Nissan, have announced deals in the past two months to add support to their EVs for charging at Tesla Superchargers and switch to the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector developed by Tesla.

While adopting the NACS connector will certainly make charging easier for most people because it is smaller, lighter and easier to insert, it won’t guarantee reliability of the chargers. The new charging network will have both NACS and CCS connectors at all locations, eliminating the need for owners of existing non-Tesla EVs to use an adapter.

Improving the total charging experience is essential to convincing drivers to switch from internal combustion to electric, and besides increasing the number of chargers, the new venture will also aim to address many of the other problems with current charging. The plan is to deploy the chargers in both urban and highway locations to support local and long-distance driving. In addition to the lack of reliability, one of the drivers’ biggest complaints about current charging stations is the location. They are typically located in the middle or back of a parking lot with no weather protection or amenities.

These new chargers are expected to be better located with amenities such as food, retail and restrooms adjacent, just like gas stations. Where possible, the chargers will be covered by canopies to provide shade or protection from rain and snow.

This will become increasingly important in the coming years as EVs increasingly move into the used car market. Most of the EVs on the road today have been built in the last five years and many are still with original owners. New car buyers are much more likely to live somewhere with dedicated off-street parking, enabling overnight charging at home.

However, Americans buy three times as many used cars as new every year and most drivers never or rarely buy new vehicles. Among used vehicle owners, upwards of 40% do not have that dedicated off-street parking and will rely on some form of public charging infrastructure. 80% or more of daily driving is less than 40 miles and EVs with 250 miles of range may only need to be charged once or twice a week in most cases. The ability to charge conveniently at locations where people do other activities like shopping will be essential to making the EV truly mainstream in North America.

Providing a charging network that is conveniently located and most importantly, reliable will be essential over the next decade. This new JV is expected to be formally established later this year and hopes to have the first chargers deployed in the US by mid-2024 with Canadian chargers added later. The member companies aren’t discussing how much they intend to invest, but they do plan to pursue funding from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program.