Late last year, General Motors announced the Dealer Community Charge Program, designed to expand access to EV chargers. Since then, nearly 1,000 GM dealers have signed up for the program – about a quarter of all in North America. GM offers participating dealers up to 10 Level 2 charging stations to install at prime locations throughout their community.
Wheelers Chevrolet GMC in Marshfield, Wisconsin, was the first dealership to participate in the program. Dealers installed chargers at two parks, a library and a sports complex in the area. A young Chevrolet Cadillac installs its first charging station at the Memorial Healthcare Wellness Center in Owosso, Michigan.
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This is just the first, as dealers in Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio, and Washington prepare to install them in the coming weeks and months. The program will open to Buick, GMC, and Cadillac dealers in January.
This program is part of GM’s wider effort to increase access to EV chargers. The automaker aims to install 40,000 Level 2 charging stations across the US and Canada, doubling the number of public Level 2 charging stations. GM selected FLO for its community charger program, with the company building the equipment at its first US plant located in Michigan.
According to the automaker, nearly 90 percent of the US population live within 10 miles of a GM dealership. “Our dealers are highly engaged and trusted within their communities and are well positioned to determine locations that expand access to EV charging,” said Hoss Hassani, vice president of GM EV Ecosystem. They can choose schools, small businesses, entertainment venues and other popular destinations in society for chargers.
GM’s dealer program is part of the company’s broader effort to improve charging station access for everyone, not just their customers. The automaker is investing nearly $750 million to expand public access, including collaborating with the Pilot Company to build a fast-charging network along US highways and working with EVgo to install 3,250 fast chargers across the country by 2025. GM also has a relationship with 11 charging Network EV, unlocking an additional 110,000 chargers for its subscribers.
