General Motors has installed 401 electric vehicle charging stations at its U.S. production and business facilities. More than 20 percent of the stations use electricity generated from solar canopies to help charge employee vehicles.
The majority of the stations are located at GM’s large engineering and corporate facilities in Michigan, where employee EV ownership is growing steadily. All charge stations are available free of charge to GM employees and visitors.
“GM’s commitment to installing a workplace charging infrastructure is among the most expansive of any corporation in the U.S.,” said Britta Gross, director of GM advanced vehicle commercialization policy. “Workplace charging is one of the most important things a company can do to raise plug-in electric vehicle awareness and energize employees.
“Once employees see how easy it is to plug in at home and work, and they realize the fuel savings, plug-in electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt begin to sell themselves.”
In addition to the workplace charging, GM has another 400 charge spots dedicated exclusively to vehicle development and testing. Chevrolet and Cadillac dealers have installed approximately 5,900 charge stations at their locations for owner use – 17 of these dealerships use solar charging canopies.
”Workplace charging is now part of GM’s corporate sustainability plan and our employees want to be part of this positive change,” Gross said. “The key for any company is to take the first step and make it simple for employees to engage – in our case we started with outlets and free charging.”
GM’s charging count follows the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement that 75 businesses have committed to participate in its Workplace Charging Challenge to install charging stations for their employees.
The Workplace Charging Challenge, of which GM is a founding member, seeks to persuade America’s employers to commit to provide electric vehicle charging access to employees through partnership, advocacy and promotion.
“GM is an example of a partner who not only has more than 400 workplace charging stations deployed, but also is actively out recruiting other employer partners for the Challenge,” said Reuben Sarkar, deputy assistant secretary for transportation, U.S. Department of Energy, told attendees at the annual Electric Drive Transportation Association conference here.
