The electric car push continues with a new collaboration announced between BMW, Volkswagen and ChargePoint that aims to build a network of fast chargers along the U.S. East and West Coasts.
The network, which was announced Thursday at the 2015 Washington Auto Show, will include 100 charging stations spanning from Boston to Washington on the East Coast and San Diego to Portland on the West Coast, according to the Los Angeles Times. ChargePoint, the top electric vehicle charging network in the U.S., and the two German automakers plan on serving electric cars of all models, include those of electric auto giant Tesla Motors.
The stations will either use 50-kilowatt DC Fast chargers or 24-kilowatt DC Combo Fast chargers, which are often used for BMW and VW vehicles. These chargers will be able to fill up a vehicle to 80 percent in less than 30 minutes.
The network's design puts it on par with Tesla's Supercharger network, which can charge the Model S to 80 percent in 40 minutes, The Verge reported. However, Tesla still has an advantage in that the Model S has a larger battery capacity than cars like the BMW i3 and the Volkswagen e-Golf.
BMW's partnership with Volkswagen and ChargePoint is its latest effort in building its own EV charger network, announcing last year that it was working with eVgo to build at least 100 chargers throughout California in 2015.
The new network could also address the concern that most drivers have with electric vehicles about driving limited distances, the LA Times reported. A study from the Union of Concerned Scientists in December 2013 states that over 50 percent of respondents said the main reason they wouldn't buy or lease a plug-in electric car was because of the range.
"This is likely to have a positive impact on electric vehicle adoption for consumers who are not moving to EVs because of that fear," said Don Anair, deputy director of the clean vehicles program for the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Construction of the EV charging network has already started in San Diego, The Verge reported. There will be at most a 50-mile gap between each station so that cars with relatively low range can make it from one station to the next.
The three companies will allow drivers to access the new networks with a ChargePoint or ChargeNow credit card, The LA Times reported. Drivers will also be able to use the ChargePoint mobile app to use the networks.
CharePoint President and CEO Pasquale Romano said all three companies are providing funding for the network, and that most of it is coming from BMW and Volkswagen.
BMW, Volkswagen and ChargePoint plan on having as many as 100 EV charging stations fully operational by the end of the year.
