Alexa Will Soon Help You Find And Pay For EV Charging
It's clear by now that electric vehicles are here to stay, but in order for adoption to skyrocket, all players involved will want to make it as convenient as possible. Charging stations still aren't as plentiful as your local gas pump, and it can be a pain figuring out which ones you can use, but the count marches upward by the day.
To make it even easier to find a place for a mid-day battery boost, EVgo Inc. — one of the United States' largest public fast charging networks for EVs — has announced a partnership with Amazon to build an Alexa-enabled platform. Drivers will be able to use their voice and ask Alexa to locate and navigate to nearby EV charging stations, as well as initiate and pay for charging sessions at supported EVgo stations. The in-vehicle functionality will be rolled out to Alexa-enabled vehicles and automotive accessories, like Echo Auto, later this year. An example image shared with the announcement shows an in-dash UI that displays the nearest stations by time and distance, as well as max wattage capabilities.
"We want Alexa to be useful for customers in their everyday lives, and EV charging is a great example of a task that can be simplified and made more convenient through the power of AI," said Anes Hodžić, Vice President of Amazon Smart Vehicles.
EV Chargers further than the eye can see
The Alexa-enabled EV charging experience will tap into PlugShare and EVgo Inside, allowing customers to find nearby charging stations, initiate a charging session, and complete payment, all with Alexa's help. In the future, customers will also be able to view real-time charger availability, as well as view session and billing information. Through the partnership, Alexa users will easily be able to locate 150,000 public charging stations in the U.S. listed on PlugShare.
EVgo also recently launched Autocharge+, which allows drivers to initiate a charging session in seconds by simply plugging in. Typically, you'd have to tap your way to a charge, but Autocharge+ automatically identifies supported vehicles and handles all the transactional steps for you. Literally, all you have to do is plug the charger into your car, get your juice, and drive off. Check out EVgo's website here for the latest compatibility information.
Ubiquity is EVgo's ultimate goal, with the company already having collaborated with major players like Tesla, GM, and Nissan to ensure maximum compatibility for the market's most popular EVs. The company has deployed hundreds of its own-branded charging stations in 60 metropolitan areas across 30 different states, and you can bet thousands more will pop up through its white-label licensing efforts before long, especially now that it has the backing of another major partner like Amazon.