GM Ultium Charge 360 offers optimized applications for different charging networks

On Wednesday, General Motors (GM) announced a new charging plan for its upcoming electric vehicles called Ultium Charge 360, which will allow drivers to access approximately 60,000 charging points across the U.S. and Canada by contracting with existing networks. GM's press release states the following.

GM will focus on working with third parties for public charging, using mobile apps to create a streamlined experience, rather than building an entire network from scratch, as Tesla and Volkswagen had to do as part of the diesel emissions settlement. According to the automaker, customers will be able to use the app to navigate to a charging station, connect and pay. [GM currently has agreements with seven charging networks: Blink Charging, ChargePoint, EV Connect, EVgo, FLO, Greenlots and SemaConnect. The company is also working with EVgo to install 2,700 DC fast charging stations in U.S. cities and suburbs by 2025. The first of these stations, which can charge up to 350 kW and have an average of four plugs per location, are already in operation in California, Florida and Washington state, with about 500 plugs expected to be operational by the end of 2021, GM said.

GM also announced that it will operate the new plug in the United States.

GM will also support the installation of home charging stations; GM is already paying a portion of the cost of installing Level 2 AC home charging stations for owners of the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV, but has not specified plans for other upcoming electric vehicles. They are not.

Ultium Charge 360 gets its name from the Ultium battery system that GM announced last year, which will be used in a number of upcoming electric vehicles GM plans to release 30 new electric vehicles by 2025.

The first of these new models will be the GMC Hummer EV 2022 pickup truck, which is set to enter production later this year. The Cadillac Lyriq SUV will follow next year, and an off-road version of the Hummer EV will appear in the spring of 2023, which will be the 2024 model.GM has also confirmed plans for an electric Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and Cadillac Celestic sedan.