Carmakers partner for new North American EV charging network, Australia still left out

General Motors (GM), the BMW Group, Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Stellantis, and Mercedes-Benz have partnered to roll out a ‘leading’ electric vehicle fast charging network in North America – but not in Australia.

The major joint venture will aim to install at least 30,000 high-powered DC charging stations in urban areas and along major highways from winter 2024 (summer in North America).

The network will offer both Combined Charging System Type 1 (CCS1) and Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) connectors – the latter coinciding with the plug’s expansion to non-Tesla EVs, such as Ford, GM, and Rivian.

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With the network supported from public and private investments on a federal and state level, each EV charging hub will be placed in “convenient locations” with canopy shades “wherever possible” and amenities, such as bathrooms, food and retail.

The network will also be integrated to participating automakers’ built-in navigation systems and adopt Plug and Charge technology to start charging compatible EVs automatically, without a smartphone app or RFID card.

It will complement – and compete against – Volkswagen’s Electrify America subsidiary, Tesla’s Supercharging network, and Mercedes-Benz's upcoming own network in North America.

Car brands unite, as Australia lags behind

The major partnership is a similar move to the widespread Ionity EV charging network in Europe – in a bid to address a key barrier to electric adoption.

Ionity was founded in late 2017 as a joint venture between the Volkswagen Group, Hyundai Motor Group, Ford, BMW Group, and Mercedes-Benz to quickly expand public charging infrastructure.

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However, Australia is still left out, with major charging providers – such as Chargefox, Evie Networks and BP Pulse – needing to be funded independently or be co-funded by philanthropists, other organisations, and/or the federal government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) – in order to expand and, importantly, maintain infrastructure.

The Australian Government has committed to a region-linking EV charging network with the NRMA to particularly fill blackspots in remote and regional areas by 2025.