General Motors Announces ‘Ultium Charge 360' a Nationwide EV Charging Network Designed for Convenience

author: FutureCar Staff    

U.S. automaker General Motors has already made its EV plans known. The automaker aims to phase out internal combustion engine passenger vehicles by 2035. Now the company has announced a new charging network called Ultium Charge 360, which is designed to make it easier for customers to charge their electric GM vehicles. 

Ultium Charge 360 integrates charging networks, GM vehicle mobile apps, and other products and services to simplify the overall charging experience for GM electric vehicle owners.  It will be a comprehensive charging network that will offer convenient access to charging for GM customers. 

Ultium Charge 360 will offer 60,000 charging ports. GM's EV customers will soon be able to easily see real-time information from the charging plugs throughout the U.S. and Canada. Using the charging app, customers will be able to find stations along a route and initiate and pay for charging.

The lack of convenient charging is one of the reasons that some drivers are hesitant about purchasing an electric vehicle. GM's new EV charging network will address this need, removing one the barriers for widespread EV adoption in the U.S.

"GM agrees with the customer's need for a robust charging experience that makes the transition to an EV seamless and helps drive mass adoption," said Travis Hester, GM's chief EV officer. "As we launch 30 EVs globally by the end of 2025, Ultium Charge 360 simplifies and improves the at-home charging experience and the public charging experience – whether it's community-based or road-trip charging."

Eventually, GM and EVGo will add more than 2,700 fast chargers in cities and suburbs by the end of 2025.

The first GM and EVgo charging sites are now live in Washington, California and Florida. By the end of the year, approximately 500 additional fast chargers will go online. Each site is capable of delivering up to 350 kilowatts of power and averages four chargers per site. 

GM will continue to work with a variety of third parties, including charge point operators, electric utilities and government agencies to make home, workplace and public charging easy for its customers.

GM said it signed agreements with seven major charging providers, including ChargePoint, EVgo, Greenlots, EV Connect, FLO, Blink Charging and SemaConnect. 

To help ensure a smooth switch to an electric GM vehicle, the automaker is also working to offer owners installation services. GM said it will even cover standard installation of Level 2 charging capability for eligible customers who purchase or lease a 2022 Bolt EUV or Bolt EV in collaboration with Qmerit.

Ultium Charge 360 builds on the technology that is powering GM's future EVs, the Ultium Platform. GM's Utium will serve as the foundation for GMs future EVs, including pickups and SUVs. The Utium platform offers a GM-estimated range of up to 450 miles on a full charge.  

The upcoming Cadillac LYRIQ, GMC HUMMER EV and Chevrolet Silverado electric pickup truck will all be built on the Utium platform. It will allow GM to build many new electric vehicles more efficiently, as its standardizes many of the electronics and components to build more cost efficient battery-powered vehicles. 

GM has committed more than $27 billion to EV and autonomous driving development through 2025, including $7 billion in 2021. The company plans to launch 30 EVs globally by the end of 2025, with more than two-thirds available in North America. The electric models will be sold under the Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet and Buick brands. 

In July 2020, GM and its charging partner EVgo announced plans to triple the size of the nation's largest DC fast charging network over the next five years. With Utium Charge 360, that plan is now underway.

FutureCar Staff