GM Adjusts EV Strategy While Boosting Charging Infrastructure Access
Automaker General Motors pulled back on a sizable part of its earlier electric vehicle investment and EV battery ambitions due to political and economic headwinds lately, but GM is still eager to expand charging options and partnerships for its EV customers now hitting the road.
Nationwide EV infrastructure network Electrify America will now link GM EV drivers to greater charging infrastructure accessibility through myChevrolet, myGMC and myCadillac apps. These provide information on Electrify America’s array of more than 5,000 fast-charging connections at hundreds of stations, including Hyper-Fast 350-kW chargers.
Through the apps, GM EV drivers can find charging stations nearby with real-time availability, plan routes, identify charging stops along the way and pay for charging sessions directly in the app.
“As EV travel continues to grow, so does the need for convenient charging experiences,” said Robert Barrosa, CEO and president of Electrify America, in a statement. “Through this integration, GM EV drivers have more Hyper-Fast chargers to choose from and a seamless experience they can count on nationwide, helping them get to the places that matter.”
The agreement is designed to give customers unified charging experiences, eliminating the use of multiple apps with everything in one place. Owners will be allowed to navigate to the Public Charging page in their myBrand app and look for supported networks for fast and convenient charging while traveling throughout the U.S.
Integration will help GM in its broader goal of connecting drivers to an expanding ecosystem of public charging infrastructure. Across the U.S. and Canada, GM drivers will have access to more than 250,000 public charging stations.
“We’re collaborating across the industry to deliver not just more chargers, but better public charging experiences,” said Wade Sheffer, vice president, GM Energy. “Our work with Electrify America helps make public charging easier to access for GM EV drivers.”
GM announced an ambitious EV rollout only a few years ago, but the revocation of tax incentives by the Trump Administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act has slowed that EV momentum dramatically. Ford and GM both put the brakes on their EV objectives, with losses from reduced customer demand forcing GM to recently book a recorded accounting impairment of more than $7 billion.
The company already has shifted its Orion, Michigan plan from EV production to assembling full-size sports utility vehicles and full-size pickups powered by internal combustion engines, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing by GM.
The auto giant is hardly giving up on EVs, though, and continues producing battery-electric models such as the Chevrolet Equinox electric SUV, the Bolt, the Silverado EV truck and an electric Hummer, among others.
Electrify America was created by Volkswagen in 2017 as part of its settlement in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency legal action over actions hiding exceeded emissions in other vehicles. Volkswagen invested about $2 billion in building out a nationwide charging network, while Siemens invested $450 million four years ago to take a minority stake in the new company.
Electrify America has grown to about 900 ultra-fast charging stations across the U.S. Under its Cycle 4 National Zero Emissions Vehicle Investment Plan announced in 2024, the company plans to invest $240 million to expand the network.
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About the Author
Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor
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For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].
Rod Walton has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World.
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.