GM-backed ‘coast-to-coast’ EV charging network grows to 130 locations
In their quest to build a coast-to-coast EV charging network, GM, EVgo, and Pilot announce they have installed electric vehicle chargers at 130 locations across 25 states. The partnership, which launched in 2022, aimed to install 2,000 DC fast chargers at 500 Pilot and Flying J truck stop locations nationwide. In a press release, the companies say the expanded charging network will make road trip plans easier as EV adoption grows and drivers prepare for spring and summer travel.
Pilot says its charging infrastructure now stretches along I-75 between Michigan and Georgia, as well as highway routes between Minneapolis and Milwaukee, Detroit and Cleveland, San Antonio and Houston, and Dallas and Nashville. Locationally, the GM-backed charging network project is a little over a quarter of the way towards its goal. At the end of 2023, the companies had 25 EV station locations with around 100 charging stalls.
Each station is set up with gas station-style canopies, with some that have space to drive electric trucks with trailers through the station for easy charging. Pilot has a site that shows which locations have EV charging stations and statuses on whether they’re in use. Most locations seem to only have the capacity for four vehicles to charge at any given time, such as at this two-stall Pilot Travel Center station in Good Hope, Alabama.
Each stall has two CCS1 plugs and up to 350kW speed when a single compatible EV is connected. GM says some EVs can charge up in “as little as 15 minutes,” but only few EVs can achieve the max charge speed, but only in small bursts and probably not up to 100 percent. For most EV models, you can expect a 20 to 80 percent charge in around 30 minutes. Comparatively, a Level 2 AC home charger could take 3-6 hours to fill up.
Since Pilot and Flying J locations are usually hours away from travelers’ destinations, GM and EVgo have another deal together to build EV charging stalls at urban locations, too. In December, the two companies said they had installed 2000 of the 2,850 planned fast-charging stalls.