Motor Mouth: Legacy automakers counter Tesla with new EV charging network

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Finally — some would say too late — legacy automakers have got the message. They can’t wait around for someone else to build a charging network for the new battery-powered electric cars they all hope to sell. Like Tesla, they need to build their own proprietary network, one that guarantees access, speed, and, most importantly considering the performance of current non-Tesla charging points, reliability.

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Thus are seven of the largest legacy manufacturers — BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis — joining forces to build “at least” 30,000 high-powered charge points in urban and highway locations across North America.

And, shades of the multiple deals that Tesla has signed with automakers lately — you did notice that some of the signatories to this deal have also signed up to use Musk’s Supercharger network, right? — these charging stations will offer both Combined Charging System (CCS) and North American Charging Standard (NACS) connectors.

Another important factor — at least if you’re one of the seven automakers funding this conglomeration — is that all these stations are expected to meet or exceed “the spirit and requirements” of the U.S. National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. In plain English, that means they will be eligible for the generous subsidies the American government is handing out to anyone and everyone willing to build anything electric in the U.S.A. In other words, their conversion is as much about subsidization as it is getting religion.

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Nonetheless, this latest Group of Seven is promising to build no fewer than 30,000 “high-powered” charging points across Canada and the U.S.A. with the aim of “becoming the leading network of reliable high-powered charging stations in North America,” as well as offering a “best-in-class charging experience” along with a “focus on renewable energy.”

The group is also promising the stations will be located in convenient locations that offer canopies wherever possible, as well as amenities such as restrooms, food service, and retail operations either nearby or within the same complex. A select number of flagship stations will be equipped with (unspecified) additional amenities, delivering what the partners are calling “a premier experience designed to showcase the future of charging.”

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The group’s Initial plans call for the deployment of charging stations in metropolitan areas and along major highways, including connecting corridors and vacation routes, looking to provide charging solutions wherever people live, work, or travel. They also say all the chargers will integrate with all seven manufacturers’ in-vehicle and in-app experiences, including reservations, route planning, and, most importantly, payment applications.

This last, if true, would be a major step up; not only from independent charging points, but also from the arrangements some automakers have been signing to gain access to Tesla’s Supercharger network. The end goal, says the (as-yet-unnamed) group, is to offer complete plug-and-charge capability.

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As for the numbers behind why the companies have finally come together, it’s simple: Independent charging networks have failed to keep up with that Silicon Valley’s upstart and its Superchargers. As the group notes, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there are roughly 32,000 publicly-available DC fast-chargers in the United States. What the group’s press missive doesn’t detail, however, is that more than 60 per cent of that number are exclusive to Tesla. In other words, while Tesla owners have access to almost 20,000 high-speed chargers, all other marques combined have fewer than 14,000 between them, many of them, as owners will confirm, unreliable.

Nor is the 30,000 charging points the automakers are promising anything but a good start. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates that 182,000 DC fast-chargers will be needed by 2030 to support the millions of plug-ins expected to be on the road by the end of the decade.

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And, just for further context, it’s also worth noting that, according EVAdoption, Tesla is still leading that charge, currently opening about 378 new fast-charging ports per month, compared to the 273 all the remaining charging operators are unveiling combined. In other words, not only is this arrangement a little late to the party, but it’s still got a lot of catching up to do.

One important question remains unanswered: Who is going to build these charging stations? Will the automakers design and build these stations themselves? Or will they simply outsource their construction to existing suppliers? If it’s the former, then perhaps they will apply the same rigour that Tesla has to its Superchargers, and we can expect not only more, but better built stations. If it’s the latter, well, they risk having more of the same problems that plague existing networks.

Whatever the solution, we’ll know soon enough, since the group says the first U.S. stations will be functional a year from now (in summer 2024) with the Canadian roll-out starting a little later.