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| Electrify America touts ‘customer-centric’ charging concepts |
With motorists accustomed to filling gas tanks in a matter of minutes in their conventional cars, Electrify America is hoping to make longer waits for electric vehicle battery charging more palatable.
On Thursday, the company rolled out concepts of charging stations that feature customer lounges and event space in some cases. In others, the “customer-centric charging experience” includes valet charging, curbside delivery options and solar canopies to shield customers during crummy weather.
Providing cover during a rainstorm perhaps seems like a low bar for “customer-centric.” But the overall effort raises important questions about where drivers want to charge at a time when the Biden administration has greenlighted $5 billion to help build a nationwide charging network.
Allowing charging stations to proliferate in the same way gas stations popped up along every interstate exit might be a mistake. Eighty-eight percent of EV owners “often” or “always” charge their vehicles at home, according to J.D. Power research.
Stopping en route to a destination could be largely a thing of the past, with drivers instead charging either at home or on chargers at their destinations.
Along those lines, Electrify America’s existing partnerships with retailers such as Walmart and Target, and grocery stores including Meijer and Kroger, might be as important a model for charging’s future as the lounges and “oasis” outlined by the company.
— Pete Bigelow
What you need to know
Nvidia unveils flurry of new partnerships with top AV/EV players: Nvidia rolled out new partnerships Tuesday at its annual technology conference, known commonly as GTC, none bigger than work with Chinese EV maker BYD, which has more than 780,000 vehicles in operation.
Toyota, Aurora roll out self-driving Sienna minivans in Texas: Toyota’s Sienna minivans, retrofitted with Aurora’s self-driving system, will be tested on highways and suburban streets in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with the operation to include trips en route to an airport.
Ford creates unit for developing AVs, new tech: Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley has reshaped the company’s internal operations to accelerate development of autonomous vehicles. A new unit, Ford Next, contains Ford’s stake in autonomous-vehicle startup Argo AI.
Roundup
Uber Technologies Inc. will list New York’s yellow taxis on its app, the first alliance of its kind in the U.S. in an effort to ease a driver shortage and pressure on fares.
LG Energy Solution, the Korean manufacturing giant, won an incentive package for a $1.7 billion expansion of its battery-manufacturing facility in western Michigan, according to public disclosures.
For self-driving startup Waabi, simulation has emerged as a primary means for testing autonomous technology instead of logging millions of real-world miles.
Former Cruise CEO Dan Ammann joins ExxonMobil. He’ll lead the building of a new business focused on the decarbonization of the industrial economy.
Qualcomm will complete its acquisition of Swedish software provider Veoneer on April 1.
Brain food
After pushback, the U.S. Postal Service said Thursday that it will double the number of electric vehicles it had initially planned to buy from Oshkosh Corp.
Last mile
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and several Russian officials have traded disparaging remarks on Twitter, with one Vladimir Putin ally suggesting Musk was too weak to survive a fight with the Russian president.