General Motors plans to install 4,000 charging stations in Canada as part of a push by the automaker to invest heavily in electric vehicles.
The Detroit-based company plans to install 40,000 stations in the US and Canada over the next year as part of a pledge to spend $ 750 million by 2025 to improve its electric vehicle infrastructure.
“We expect 10 percent of the total number of chargers for the Canadian market,” the company said in a statement to CBC News.
The company says the charging stations will be installed at GM dealerships, as well as various other workplaces, apartment buildings, sports and entertainment venues, as well as colleges and universities.
The charging stations will be usable by anyone with an electric vehicle, not just people with a GM-built vehicle, the company said.
Strengthen the electric future
The initiative is “part of our plan to get everyone into an electric vehicle to make charging access even more seamless than before,” said GM President Mark Reuss in the press release.
“We want to give our customers the right tools and in-store access where and when they need it, while working with our dealer network to accelerate the expansion of accessible shopping in the US and Canada, including in underserved, rural and urban areas Areas. “
An electric car charges at an electric vehicle charging station on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press)
For comparison purposes, there are approximately 11,000 gas stations across Canada, so 4,000 new electric charging stations would represent a significant increase in the number of places a driver could get a boost.
According to Bloomberg, around 1.5 million plug-in electric vehicles have been registered for driving in the US and Canada since 2011.
GM is in the process of converting some of its manufacturing facilities in Canada to begin manufacturing electric vehicles.
The news comes a day after car rental company Hertz announced it would buy 100,000 electric vehicles from Tesla this year, adding to the growing availability and demand for electric vehicles.
