BMW makes it easy to load electric vehicles near US national parks – TechCrunch

BMW has completed a nearly two-year project to install 100 electric vehicle charging stations in US national parks.

The manufacturer has partnered with several US agencies in 2017, including the National Park Foundation, the National Park Service, and Department of Energy, to donate 100 electric vehicle charging stations in and near national parks across the United States.

More than 90 charging stations have been installed. The other few will open this month, the company said.

The effort is small compared to some of the larger infrastructure campaigns in the United States, but it has the potential to mitigate the electric vehicle charging desert that exists on roads and in national parks. And as more and more electric vehicles arrive on the market, the demand for these chargers will only increase.

Charging stations, which include fast level 2 and DC chargers, are concentrated in popular areas where the electric vehicle market is highly developed. The agencies and BMW also took into account the distance to the charging locations nearby.

BMW charging stations are located in the Everglades and Grand Canyon, two of the most visited national parks in the United States, as well as in California's Death Valley, Rainier and Olympic National Parks in Washington, and Cape Cod National Seashore in Mbadachusetts.

BMW has worked with the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation to identify sites, consider technical considerations and coordinate with state and local authorities.

"The automobile has long been at the heart of the great American holidays in national parks," said P. Daniel Smith, deputy director of the National Parks Service. "While our precious landscapes offer familiar views, the automobile has changed a lot and the parks want to meet the needs of our visitors who use electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.