It’s not exactly an automotive kumbaya moment, but recent news about a new EV charging network joint venture from seven carmakers has sparked a lot of excited buzz.
Mercedes-Benz will work with General Motors, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Honda and Stellantis to install at least 30,000 high-powered charging stations in urban locations and on highways. The joint announcement on July 26 said the new network is “unprecedented” and “will significantly expand access to high-powered charging in North America,” ensuring that “customers can charge whenever and wherever they need.” The new chargers will be powered using renewable energy.
Coming Next Summer
The first stations will open in the United States sometime next summer and will feature the ability for any battery-powered electric vehicles to fast charge with either Combined Charging System (CCS1) or North American Charging Standard (NACS) types of connectors. That’s been one factor that limited EV convenience in the past, since Tesla vehicles had their own charging stations, although Ford, General Motors and Mercedes-Benz already announced plans to move from the CCS1 standard to Tesla’s charging standard (NACS).
This joint venture network will almost double the number of available chargers in North America. Vehicles built by the cooperating manufacturers will have charging network functions integrated into their vehicles and their drivers will be able to perform other functions, too, such as planning their routes, reserving chargers and pay for their “fuel.”
This joint venture is on top of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program that the federal government announced as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021, which will make funds available to states for building out charging networks.
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