BMW Invests in Electric Vehicle Charging Network
Despite its limited involvement with EVs so far, BMW is reaffirming its commitment to electric cars by investing in Coulomb Technologies: a company that controls the world’s largest online charging network.
The service is called ChargePoint and it connects drivers with charging stations in over 14 countries. Members benefit from cloud-based billing and support to ease the biggest barrier to driving an electric vehicle: knowing where the next charge can come from.
Currently, BMW offers a select few ActiveE cars, which are electric versions of its 1 Series, but the future promises more with the i3 and i8. Faltering demand for EVs overall had BMW feeling skittish in May, but the investment by i Ventures, the brand’s investment arm, seems to suggest that interest is still keen.
BMW’s i Ventures is hard at work to entice drives toward its EVs beyond the recent commitment to ChargePoint. One of the most popular items it has been involved with was the My City Way app, which gives information on parking availability, local entertainment and more.
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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