US automaker GM has made a subtle change to its cooperation with charge point operator EVgo by designating 400 of the 3,250 fast charging (350kw) stalls the firms plan to install in major US metropolitan areas as “flagship destinations”. The first of these new stations is due in 2025.
Most are expected to feature up to 20 stalls, but with select locations providing significantly higher stall counts. Sites will be in metropolitan areas in states such as AZ, CA, FL, GA, MI, NY and TX, and “will be located near a diverse set of amenities including shopping, dining, coffee shops and other services drivers can take advantage of while they charge”.
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Many will use EVgo’s prefabrication approach to expedite construction timelines and offer modularity to ease future expansion.
“The future of EV charging is larger stall count locations, high-power charging, and designing around features that customers love — such as pull-through access, canopies and convenient amenities,” says EVgo president Dennis Kish. “In order to be the charging provider of choice, we need to lead on customer satisfaction, and we will continue to innovate to deliver a charging experience that is convenient, comfortable, and dependable for current and future EV drivers.”
"Ensuring that our customers have seamless access to convenient and reliable charging is imperative, and this effort will take it to the next level,” says GM Energy vice-president Wade Sheffer. “Through our collaborations with industry leaders like EVgo, we continue to innovate and expand customer-centric charging solutions that will meet the evolving needs of EV drivers across the country."
It is important to note that the announcement does not mean any more chargers than GM and EVgo were already planning to install. In a cooperation first made public in 2020 and expanded upon in 2021, the plan was for development and installation of 3,250 DC fast charging stalls in major metro markets.
And the two firms will continue to work on the original concept for 2,850 of these 3,250 stalls. The 1,000th stall opened last August 2023, with the 2,000th due by the end of 2024.
“Reallocated funding” will see the other 400, or 12.3pc of the total number of chargers, upgraded to flagship status.
Struggling to make its mind up
The wisdom of moving a proportion of destination charging sites upmarket remains to be seen. But a wider question is exactly what GM’s strategy on charging is. The firm sees it as “business-critical”, senior GM exec Rory Harvey told EV inFocus in mid-2023.
But the firm is pursuing both building out it own and co-branded network, yet is also a member of the Ionna consortium of OEMs committed to building a separate network. And the firm is also pursuing share buyback programme, with money that could be used to accelerate the capital-intensive business of expanding charging if the firm really thinks it is a good strategy.
Admittedly, it is not the only OEM to be suffering similar confusion. For example, Germany’s Mercedes is also adopting the muddled three-pronged approach of own network, consortium and buybcks, but with the added burden of trying to build networks in the US, Europe and China, and being a partner in the European Ionity standalone as well as Ionna in the US.
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