Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

Road trip! East and West coast EV fast-charging corridors now complete

Bruce Brown
By

chargepoint fast charge coastal corridors bmw dc 083
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Some day electric vehicle (EV) charging stations will be as plentiful as gas stations are today — but not yet. So it’s still a big deal when ChargePoint, BMW, and VW announce networks of DC fast-charging stations up and down the United States’ east and west coasts, as reported by Ars Technica.

ChargePoint has partnerships with other car makers, but in early 2015 the charging station installer announced it was teaming up with BMW and Volkswagen. The commitment was to establish express charging locations along the most traveled routes on the east and west coasts.

Recommended Videos

You can’t travel the entire coastline in either case. On the east coast the fast charging stations follow along I-95 from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. The west coast corridor extends from Portland, Oregon, to San Diego. The plan was to have stations no farther than 50 miles apart.

Related

The significance of fast-charging stations factors in charging time. For example, with 50Wh DC fast chargers, cars like the BMW i3 and VW E-Golf can be charged to 80 percent capacity in 20 minutes. At “standard” level 2 chargers — in quotes because they’re not all that common — for cars that don’t have DC charging capability, an hour’s charge provides about 25 miles of range. If you want to travel very far, there’s no love in having to spend four hours charging time for every 100 miles — no matter how fast you drive.

The ChargePoint east and west coast fast-charging station corridors consist of a total of 95 stations. According to the latest figures on ChargePoint’s website, there are now 371 express charging spots out of 30,594 total spots in North America. The company also states it has delivered more than 18 million charges and that there are currently 505,527 EVs on the road in the U.S. and Canada.

ChargePoint CEO Pat Romano is focused on building out the charging station infrastructure. “Our mission is to get everyone into an EV, and as the number of EVs on the road increases, we’re building features that ensure charging and driving an EV is a seamless experience,” Romano said.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown
Contributing Editor
Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…
BMW i4 brings the ultimate driving machine into EV territory
2022 bmw i4 electric sedan unveiled with 530 horsepower

BMW introduced the i4, its smartest and most futuristic sedan to date. Fully electric, connected, and powerful, it's a toned-down version of the Concept i4 developed to give buyers a battery-powered alternative to the 3 Series.

Like the design study, which was presented online in March 2020, the production model wears a giant grille that will fuel chatter for months on end. Some will love it, some will hate it; what's certain is that it won't go unnoticed. BMW is applying this styling cue across its range, and its market research reveals buyers like the more assertive look.

Read more
Chevy will pay charging-station installation costs for 2022 Bolt EV buyers
Silver Chevrolet Bolt EV

If you're buying an electric car, chances are you'll need a place to plug it in. Chevrolet knows that, so it's covering home-charging installation costs for buyers of the 2022 Bolt EV and Bolt EUV. However, the offer only lasts through June, and comes with some caveats, according to InsideEVs.

Chevy, through partner Qmerit, will install a NEMA 14-50 outlet fed by a dedicated 50-amp circuit with its own breaker. This is the kind of outlet used by large appliances, and it also allows so-called Level 2 charging, at 240 volts (a standard 120-volt household outlet is considered Level 1). However, Chevy is only covering what it calls a "standard installation," so any added costs will be the customer's responsibility.

Read more
A $1 billion investment will bring more EV charging stations to rural America
ChargePoint an NATSO to spend $1 billion on electric car charging

Lack of charging stations remains one of the biggest obstacles to widespread adoption of electric cars, but two companies are planning to spend $1 billion to help address that shortage. Charging station operator ChargePoint and the National Association of Truck Stop Operators (NATSO) plan to add charging stations at 4,000 sites in the U.S. While most charging infrastructure initiatives focus on heavily traveled corridors between major cities, ChargePoint and NATSO plan to focus on rural areas.

The agreement between ChargePoint and NATSO calls for charging stations to be installed at the 4,000 sites by 2030. At this point, the companies have only gone as far as signing a memorandum of understanding, so no actual work has started yet.

Read more