GM taps dealerships to fight charging station shortage

General Motors announced that just under a quarter of its dealers had signed up to help install thousands of charging stations across the U.S.

Many automakers are aggressively pursuing the EV market, hoping to fully transition away from gas-powered vehicles within the next two decades. Earlier this year, GM announced its goal of selling enough EVs to make the product profitable by 2025. Meeting this deadline will require widespread EV adoption in rural areas, where interest lags far behind urban and suburban locations.

The EV market has failed to take off in these regions largely due to a lack of energy infrastructure. In general, drivers are more hesitant to ditch gas-powered vehicles when there aren’t enough charging stations to fuel their trips. In areas where there are little to no easily accessible chargers, EV use remains nearly non-existent. To solve this issue, GM plans on installing 40,000 new stations in areas where the market remains lacking.

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Months ago, the automaker introduced its Dealer Community Charging Program, through which dealerships could register to install charging stations in their communities. According to the initiative’s rules, GM will provide participating dealers with ten units each, free of charge, while the franchise owner will be responsible for selecting the locations and covering installation costs.

While a majority of the automaker’s dealership body have yet to sign up with the program, GM hopes the 1,000 who have will make a significant impact on EV demand in their regions. If it achieves its 40,000 goal, the program will have nearly doubled the number of charging stations currently available in the U.S.

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