BMW and Volkswagen have teamed up to install almost 100 charging stations for electric vehicles (EV) along two of the busiest roads in the United States.
In a program called the Express Charging Corridors Initiative, the German car manufacturers tapped ChargePoint, a California-based startup, to build the infrastructure. The company has already built a network of similar charging facilities across the country.
The move is aimed at helping the public warm toward EVs and leveraging automakers' respective competitive positions against Tesla, which currently leads the EV market in the United States. To provide more context: Volkswagen is set to unveil an electric vehicle next month at the Paris Motor Show. It will reportedly hit the market in 2018.
Part of the 95 direct current fast charging stations were built along Interstate 95, which links Boston, New York City, certain areas in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. The rest are located along Interstate 5 and Highway 101 to service commuters in the Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego areas. Both of these corridors also extend to destinations such as Cape Cod, Napa and the Jersey Shore areas.
The electric chargers are already available to the public. They are located 50 miles away from popular public spaces such as shopping malls and restaurants. Drivers can pay using a dedicated ChargePoint app or a ChargePoint card. BMW EV car owners can also use the vehicle's ConnectedDrive functionality to find stations while Volkswagen EV owners can turn to the company's CarNet app.
This kind of infrastructure is expected to address complaints among existing EV owners or those mulling a new car purchase concerned with safety and the inconvenience of hunting for a few places to recharge.
Tesla, Volkswagen and BMW's main competitor, has already completed its own network of battery charging stations covering North America, Europe and even parts of Asia. Tesla has 1,973 charging outlets in the United States alone. What distinguishes the German automakers' initiative, however, is the fact that the ChargePoint technology can recharge a vehicle in just 30 minutes. Tesla's charging facilities use the standard 240-volt chargers that take 40 minutes to reach 80 percent charge.
Interestingly, ChargePoint CEO Pat Romano says the length of charging time has delighted business owners around charging stations who were embracing the EV facilities for providing opportunities to engage customers.
BMW is also currently partnered with EVgo in a project that will build direct current charging stations in 25 cities in the United States.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns | Flickr
