More than 5,300 home and workplace charging stations are planned to be installed in Michigan as the state prepares for the introduction of new electric vehicle technology.
General Motors and its partners are teaming up to help give Chevrolet Volt buyers more options for charging their vehicles.
GM will install 345 fast chargers for Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicles at its Michigan facilities. GM-installed charging stations for use by its employees in Michigan will include 34 at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly center where the Chevrolet Volt is built and 140 in the homes of employees driving early-build models for quality evaluation.
Many of the stations at GM facilities will be powered by renewable solar energy. The Detroit-Hamtramck assembly center already has 10 stations in place powered by photovoltaic systems from SunLogics Inc. Envision Solar International will provide its innovative Solar Tree with EnvisionTrak™ system for use at the Warren Technical Center and Milford Proving Ground.
In addition, more than 1,500 Chevrolet dealers across the U.S. plan to install charging stations for use by customers. This number includes nearly 650 dealers that will soon begin selling the Chevrolet Volt in retail launch markets and approximately 900 others across the country that are authorized to provide service.
DTE Energy will install 2,500 240V home charging stations for plug-in vehicles, and Consumers Energy is matching that pledge. The utilities will cover up to $2,500 of the cost of the charging station and installation. GM’s Voltec 240 V home charging station is priced at just $490 plus an estimated $1,475 for installation.
Most of these stations will be placed in consumers’ garages, carports and driveways. A few will be strategically located, such as the two GM placed in front of its headquarters at the Renaissance Center at the building’s entrance off of Jefferson Ave in Detroit. A total of 18 charging stations will be operational in and around the Renaissance Center within the next week.
GM plans a limited introduction of the Chevrolet Volt initially in Michigan, California, Texas, Washington D.C. and New York. It has been priced at $41,000 before federal and state tax incentives.
The automaker is working with 50 utilities in its seven initial launch markets and hopes to get similar fast-charger pledges from them.
