AAA expands EV choices with cellular charging, journey planning

Greater than a decade after launching a cellular EV charging pilot program, AAA is launching a second, larger-scale program that may supply cellular charging to members in 14 U.S. metropolitan areas.

The brand new pilot program provides cellular charging without cost to AAA members within the following cities: San Francisco; Indianapolis; Philadelphia; Orlando; Nashville; Charlotte; Denver; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Avon, Peabody, and West Springfield, Massachusetts; Windfall, Rhode Island; and Bend and Portland, Oregon.

“As a part of this analysis, AAA may even discover varied cellular charging strategies to ship the very best expertise to its members,” the group mentioned in a press release. AAA informed Inexperienced Automotive Studies that it is utilizing a variety of suppliers on this rollout, and it varies relying on the town as it really works to finalize these partnerships.

 

Whereas not named as one of many suppliers, one firm that’s providing such cellular charging companies is SparkCharge. The corporate first deployed its “charging as a service” mannequin, which permits EV drivers to order further power by way of an app, in Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Jose. In August it introduced an growth to extra surrounding communities following the closing of a $7 million funding spherical.

It has certainly been greater than a decade since AAA first examined roadside charging for EVs. The unique 2010 pilot included 5 prototype mobile-charging automobiles, which have now been retired. Classes discovered from them have knowledgeable this new pilot program, in line with AAA.

 

As we discovered once we caught up with AAA in 2016, the service was not often getting used, although—and EV drivers sometimes had extra of a deal with on vary than earlier vary nervousness might need advised. Extra just lately, automakers, and even some rising charging networks, have seen that these options assist with vary nervousness, although.

Along with cellular charging, EV charging choices are being built-in with AAA’s trip-planning instruments. It mentioned EV-specific options will quickly be added to the newly launched Journey Canvas road-trip planner, and charging stations are already listed alongside gasoline stations within the TripTik Journey Planner, which provides point-to-point instructions to particular spots. AAA first added EV charging to its map companies in 2012.