Department of Energy Recognizes GM for Workplace Charging

Early last year, GM was among 13 founding partner companies that pledged with the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) to increase workplace charging in the U.S. tenfold within five years, as part of the Workplace Charging Challenge.

Over the past four years GM has installed 473 charge stations (comprised of both 120V and 240V, and a significant amount that are solar) that are available to our employees at 45 sites, including 24 manufacturing facilities, from coast to coast across the United States.

The DOE recently recognized GM’s efforts as superior among the 150 Workplace Charging Challenge companies for demonstrating leadership in supporting the development of the national plug-in electric vehicle workplace charging infrastructure, promoting workplace charging and its benefits with other companies, as well as increasing the charging stations available to GM employees.

Whether at our design studio in North Hollywood, California, our Vehicle Engineering Center in Warren where we are developing electric vehicles, or our Pontiac Powertrain campus, employees who own Chevrolet Volts, Spark EVs or Cadillac ELRs are getting the most out of being able to charge their vehicles while they work.

Building EV charging stations at a place of work is arguably the single best way to raise EV awareness with consumers and grow the EV market – a virtual EV showroom in every parking lot. A recent survey of companies participating in the Challenge showed that employees of these companies are 20 times more likely to drive a plug-in car than those who work at companies with no provisions for charging.

Earlier this year we created workplace charging etiquette tips to share with our employees at GM facilities with charging stations, as well as other companies taking their first step toward workplace charging.

With a goal of manufacturing 500,000 vehicles globally with some form of electrification annually beginning in 2017, it’s imperative that the infrastructure is in place to support them.

In addition, Chevrolet and Cadillac dealers have installed about 5,900 charge stations at their locations for owner use, with 17 dealerships using solar charging canopies.

It’s all part of how GM is transforming transportation and redefining vehicle technology solutions to advance the industry and lessen our impact on the environment.

Oh, and they’re very fun to drive!