BMW North America brings charge stations to national parks
Photo: BMW
National parks soon will have charging stations
Today the BMW group announced that it has made good on its promise to bring 100 charging stations to national parks throughout the United States. The partnership between BMW of North America, the National Park Foundation, National Park Service, and the Department of Energy has been ongoing since early 2017, and this is the first major project the groups have collaborated on together.
At the moment, 90 of the charging stations are already operational and the last 10 are slated to become functional this month.
“We can’t think of a better way to enjoy the summer than visiting one of America’s beautiful national parks. In making electric vehicle charging more widely available for everyone, this joint effort serves to make America’s national parks more accessible to drivers of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles,” said CEO of BMW North America Bernhard Kuhnt in a press release.
A step for the environment
The idea was to make national parks – which are, by and large, far from big cities and their typical high density of charge stations – more accessible to those who would rather their car help save the environment. Having a charging station at a national park is a large part of helping limit range anxiety for electric vehicle drivers.
“While our treasured landscapes offer familiar vistas time after time, the automobile has changed greatly, and parks want to meet the needs of our visitors who electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles,” said National Park Service Deputy Director P. Daniel Smith.
“Thanks to public-private partnership, electric vehicle drivers can enjoy a quintessential national park road trip,” said Will Shafroth, president of the National Park Foundation. “Not only will drivers benefit, but also the businesses and communities at the doorstep of our treasured national parks.”
By Nicholas Yekikian
Borrow is an electric vehicle subscription company with one goal: to make driving an EV as simple and accessible as possible. Borrow is the only electric vehicle subscription service of its kind with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonizing the everyday drive.