Photo: ChargePoint
Why fight with the competition when you could take over the electric market together? Electrify America and ChargePoint, two of America’s largest charging stations operators, announced this week they are joining forces to benefit their customers' charging needs.
Charging stations across the U.S. are currently numerous enough to apparently satisfy demand. The greatest challenge however for EV owners is the high number of operators currently fielding such stations, each requiring their own authentication, payment credentials and so on.
In an attempt too deal with this reality, the company created by Volkswagen (Electrify America) partners with the one in which Daimler just became a lead investor (ChargePoint).
The alliance between the two companies will open access doors to a total of over 30,000 stations spread across the nation without going through the pain of having to configure new memberships, registrations or payment methods.
Just as in the telecommunication sector, the practice of charging your car from a company you're not directly under contract with will be called roaming.
“This roaming agreement further accelerates the seamless integration of individual EV fueling networks and brings us even closer to the day when the movement of all goods and people will be powered by electricity,” said ChargePoint CEO Pasquale Romano
“Partnerships like this make transitioning to electric drive easier than continuing to use fossil fuels. Our agreement is another example of cross-industry collaboration and underscores the importance of working together to support this transformation of mobility.”
No mention was yet made about possible increased tariffs as a result of this roaming agreement. The interconnected service will become available later this year.
Efforts to create standard protocols and a more comprehensive charging network are currently being made on all fronts. Recently, Google announced its Maps service will include real-time information on the availability of charging ports, and other high-profile deals between interested players are currently in the works.
In an attempt too deal with this reality, the company created by Volkswagen (Electrify America) partners with the one in which Daimler just became a lead investor (ChargePoint).
The alliance between the two companies will open access doors to a total of over 30,000 stations spread across the nation without going through the pain of having to configure new memberships, registrations or payment methods.
Just as in the telecommunication sector, the practice of charging your car from a company you're not directly under contract with will be called roaming.
“This roaming agreement further accelerates the seamless integration of individual EV fueling networks and brings us even closer to the day when the movement of all goods and people will be powered by electricity,” said ChargePoint CEO Pasquale Romano
“Partnerships like this make transitioning to electric drive easier than continuing to use fossil fuels. Our agreement is another example of cross-industry collaboration and underscores the importance of working together to support this transformation of mobility.”
No mention was yet made about possible increased tariffs as a result of this roaming agreement. The interconnected service will become available later this year.
Efforts to create standard protocols and a more comprehensive charging network are currently being made on all fronts. Recently, Google announced its Maps service will include real-time information on the availability of charging ports, and other high-profile deals between interested players are currently in the works.
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