OREANDA-NEWS. February 01, 2013. General Motors, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, is joining 12 other companies as founding Partners of the DOE’s Workplace Charging Challenge. The goal is to increase the number of employers with workplace charging tenfold within five years.

Successfully meeting the challenge will help strengthen the nation’s expanding electric-vehicle infrastructure and increase consumer exposure to plug-in electric vehicles.

“Since the introduction of the Chevrolet Volt, we have made a commitment to lead by example on workplace charging and to engage in encouraging other companies to help provide the infrastructure supporting the electric vehicle market,” said Mike Robinson, GM vice president, Sustainability and Global Regulatory Affairs. “With 239 workplace charging spots for the use of GM employees to charge their personal plug-in vehicles, we are primed to meet this challenge.”

The DOE will provide technical assistance and establish a network where Partners and Ambassadors can share best practices.

These companies are part of the pledge to promote workplace charging stations:
3M
Chrysler LLC
Duke Energy
Eli Lilly and Company
Ford Motor Co.
General Electric
Google
Nissan
San Diego Gas & Electric
Siemens
Tesla
Verizon

Behind the workplace charging goal is the EV Everywhere Challenge, which is dedicated to accelerating the development, affordability, convenience and commercialization of the next generation of plug-in electric vehicles to be on par with today’s gasoline-powered vehicles.