GM announced today that it is partnering with EVgo, ChargePoint and Greenlots, three of the biggest charging networks in the US, in order to improve its electric vehicle charging solution for customers.

While companies like Tesla are building their own charging networks to specifically cater to their own vehicles, several other automakers rely on third-party networks, which can complicate access to charging.

GM plans to make the situation a little easier by “aggregating dynamic data from each of the EV charging networks so owners of the all-electric Chevrolet Bolt EV can have a more seamless charging experience with their GM vehicles.”

Doug Parks, General Motors vice president of Autonomous and Electric Vehicle Programs, commented on the announcement:

“GM believes in an all-electric future, and this is a significant step to make charging easier for our customers. By collaborating with these three companies, we expect to reduce barriers to create a stronger EV infrastructure for the future. This is an important step toward achieving GM’s vision of a world with zero emissions.”

Basically, GM wants to be able to share information from the networks directly to its mobile app for Chevy Bolt EV owners.

They explained in a press release:

“New information to be provided by the charging networks will include real-time data on charge station health to report if a charging station is working, available and compatible with a Bolt EV, offering a one-stop shop for all range and charging data before or during a trip. Importantly,”

GM also said that it hopes to also offer the capability to start a charge from their myChevrolet app as part of this deal instead of using the network’s membership card system, but they didn’t explicitly said that it would be possible.

The company says that the new partnership should be finalized before the end of the first quarter.

Electrek’s Take

If GM is not going to invest in its own charging network, which is honestly surprising considering that it claims to be “all in with electric vehicles”, then it needs partnerships with those third-party charging networks.

But this partnership is underwhelming to be honest.

I was expecting a centralized way to access and pay for charging, but it doesn’t sound like they are ready for that yet.

Instead, they are just going to add features to myChevrolet app – basically playing catch up with what most other EV manufacturers are offering.

I hope we are going to see more from GM on the charging front if they are really serious about EVs.

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