GM Ultium Charge 360 – This Is How It Should Be for Everyone
By Edward A. Sanchez – April 28, 2021
One of my first posts for The Watt Car was one advocating for universal interoperability with EV charging. This concept has been long talked about by EV advocates and charging providers, but implementation has been spotty at best. But it looks like we could finally be nearing that heretofore elusive utopia, in the U.S. and Canada at least.
This week, General Motors announced its Ultium Charge 360 initiative, which in theory unifies the payment platform of seven charging networks, allowing seamless access to an estimated 60,000 charge points (and sure to grow) through the app. In addition to multi-network charging, Ultium Charge 360 also encompasses GM’s offer to install Level 2 home charging with the purchase of new EVs.
This is not simply a North American issue. The webisphere is replete with tales of broken, stubborn, and difficult-to-operate chargers across many markets, but the UK seems to be a particular problem area in this regard. Too bad GM has effectively exited the European market with its sale of Opel and Vauxhall to PSA.
I’m sure they already have dozens, if not hundreds, of software and database engineers working on this initiative, but I can’t overstate how critical it will be for GM to get this right. That’s a tough lesson that Volkswagen learned the hard way with its launch of the ID.4, which required a multi-step process to initiate charging, whereas the Ford Mustang Mach-E was a simple plug-and-charge process...on the same charging network!
Seamless integration will be key to the success of GM’s Ultium Charge 360 program.
Although GM and other companies have been criticized for their third-party partnership approach to charging, as opposed to Tesla’s in-house effort, it makes sense from the standpoint of resource efficiency when there are multiple third-party charging networks working to tackle the issue. This helps GM save money and R&D resources to actually work on the vehicles and powertrains. Also, for all intents and purposes, there are two charging standards in North America: Tesla’s and everyone else’s (CCS-1).
Once Tesla developed and started selling a proprietary plug standard, the company pretty much committed itself to maintaining and growing it. Yes, yes, there was that whole “free access to our patents,” but by most accounts, the fine print also prevented companies that agreed to Tesla’s conditions from suing the company for any reason, for perpetuity.
But I digress.
If GM can pull off making Ultium Charge 360 a truly seamless, pain-free experience for customers, that could be a gamechanger in its race to become the undisputed volume leader in EVs in North America. But the road to this frictionless EV fantasyland is littered with aborted and abandoned attempts to try to do the same thing.
Don’t drop the ball with this, GM, the success of your EV future depends on it.
(Images courtesy GM)
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