Tomorrow is EV Day at General Motors when we expect the company will lay out more of its future electrification plans. To get things started, it is recognizing that charity charging begins at home with an announcement of 3,500 new level 2 charging stations for its employees at various facilities across the U.S. and Canada.
More about GM's electric future
The automaker has been producing plug-ins in for some time, of course, and already has a number of charging stations in place. On a recent visit, we saw a modest number, outfitted with solar panels, at its Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan as well as at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant – the factory it's upgrading into a high-tech electric vehicle manufacturing juggernaut.
As you can see in the infographic above, this investment will result in the tripling of charge points for GM workers. The added infrastructure could benefit a very much larger number of employees. If we use some of the figures in the image, we can see that the energy a vehicle needs to complete a commute could take as little as an hour. This means that one station could re-juice a number of vehicles per day.
Of course, not everyone does their charging like that. An owner of, say, a 2020 Chevy Bolt EV with 259 miles of charge might more likely only charge once a week. If they opt not to charge at home, they would only need the use of a single charging station one day of the workweek. So, you can see that each charger could supply services for a number of employees.
The rollout of this new internal infrastructure is expected to begin in the latter part of the year, locating the new stations where they will be used most. It's worth keeping in mind that the power supplied will increasingly come from lower-carbon sources over time. GM has pledged to power 100 percent of its global operations with renewable energy by 2040. By 2030, it aims to have its U.S. facilities all powered by renewables.
Check out the press release below for even more details and let us know what you think of having this sort of work perk available in Comments.
GM Continues to Facilitate EV Adoption, Tripling Employee Workplace Electric Vehicle Charging Availability Across U.S. and Canada
Additional 3,500 new EV charging plugs will provide employees even more accessibility to charge at work
DETROIT – General Motors is making electric vehicle charging for employees even more accessible with the addition of 3,500 new EV charging plugs throughout its U.S. and Canadian facilities. This will triple the amount of charging locations that GM currently provides.
“This is another step down the path to making EV ownership easier for everyone, especially for our own employees,” said Mark Reuss, GM president. “Charging infrastructure is crucial to wider acceptance of EVs, and we’ll continue to do everything we can to improve it, both for our employees and for all our customers. We encourage other companies to do likewise.”
Increasing the number of EV charging locations available to consumers is one of the top contributors to growing EV adoption. GM believes charging should be ubiquitous and is working with charging providers to offer EV owners options on where to charge. With the internal popularity of the Chevrolet Bolt EV, and with the well-publicized GMC and Cadillac models that will roll out in the future, GM is committed to ensuring that all employees are able to conveniently charge their vehicles as the employee EV-owner population grows.
Currently, GM helps owners connect with certified at-home charging electricians through Qmerit and recently made enhancements to its Energy Assist feature in the latest version of the myChevrolet app to provide Chevrolet Bolt EV owners improved access to a nationwide network of public charging locations and real-time location data.
Workplace charging is a primary charging source for many EV drivers, yet 900,000 out of 1 million EV drivers are not able to charge their vehicles at work.1 Availability of workplace chargers has been shown to encourage EV adoption, and drivers are six times more likely to drive an EV when charging capabilities are provided at their workplace.2
“Over 90 percent of EV owners charge either at home, at work or a combination of both,” said Rick Spina, vice president of EV/AV commercialization and infrastructure. “We have new EVs from GMC for the 2022 model year and from Cadillac planned for the 2023 model year, and we want to make it as convenient as possible for our employees to enjoy the rewards of EV ownership.”
Workplace charging is valuable for employees and businesses alike. GM hopes to show other companies the value of investing in workplace charging, as it is an affordable employee benefit, supports talent attraction and retention, and showcases the company’s commitment to sustainability.
GM will prioritize charging installation sites based on employee need and will work with charging infrastructure companies to begin installing the charging locations starting in late 2020. GM employees will have access to Level 2 charging, ideal for efficiently charging EVs throughout a workday. Level 2 chargers can charge the current Chevrolet Bolt EV model up to a speed of 25 miles every hour.3
GM recently accelerated its commitment to power 100 percent of global operations with renewable energy by 2040. In the U.S., 100 percent of facilities will be powered with renewable energy by 2030, which means the EVs charged at GM campuses will eventually all be powered by a green grid.
This EV charging investment is a continuation of GM’s commitment to an all-electric future. GM also announced that the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant will be GM’s first plant that is 100 percent devoted to electric vehicles and will build the new GMC HUMMER EV for the 2022 model year. In 2019, GM announced a collaboration with LG Chem to mass produce battery cells for future battery-electric vehicles, and a partnership with Qmerit to create a more accessible at-home charging solution.
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is a global company committed to delivering safer, better and more sustainable ways for people to get around. General Motors, its subsidiaries and its joint venture entities sell vehicles under the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, Baojun and Wuling brands. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety and security services, and Maven, its personal mobility brand, can be found at http://www.gm.com.
