Seven major automakers are teaming up on a North American EV charging network

A new group of automotive super friends is teaming up to build the next big North American electric vehicle charging network. Global automakers – BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis today announced a planned joint venture to deploy easy-to-operate DC fast chargers on US and Canadian highways and urban environments .

The currently unnamed partnership's grand plan is to install "at least" 30,000 high-speed EV chargers by 2030, with the first debuting in the US in the summer of 2024. The collective plans to take advantage of National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) funding. The US will also use other private and public funding from state and federal sources to build out more networks.

Current EV charging networks, from Tesla Superchargers to Electrify America, have stations set up in places where people can shop, eat, and use bathrooms. , , , , , will be planted in villages and metros also.

The new stations will connect and charge EV models made by partner automakers without the need for another charging station app. The companies also plan to integrate the developing "plug and charge" standard that the Federal Highway Administration is trying to standardize.

"The more people have the better the experience," GM CEO Mary Barra said in a joint venture press release, adding, "Many charging networks today require their own apps and have reliability issues." Tesla's Supercharger network, considered one of the best in the world, will be available to vehicles from Ford, GM, Volvo and other automakers, without requiring people to activate an app.

The new joint venture is also planned to be powered entirely by renewable energy. It is not known whether renewable energy will power them directly or whether the companies plan to buy credits like Rivian announced yesterday.

Canadians would have to wait for a "later stage" before the starting station could be established. All stations will also include the standardized Tesla North American Charging Standard (NACS) port and the currently widely used Combined Charging System (CCS) plug.