GM and Pilot Plan National Electric-Vehicle Charging Network

“We are committed to an all-electric, zero-emissions future, and ensuring that the right charging infrastructure is in place is a key piece of the puzzle,” said GM Chief Executive

Mary Barra.

The companies didn’t detail spending plans for the network. GM last year said it would spend $750 million on charging infrastructure, and Pilot said that adding the chargers is part of $1 billion in upgrades to its locations.

The move comes as the Biden administration prepares to give states $7.5 billion for charging, money included in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed by Congress last year. That money will flow over several years to states and into communities and businesses in the form of grants to help add the new equipment.

Travis Hester,

GM’s chief EV officer, said the partnership will apply for grants and is “making sure that we’re utilizing any funds that are there to the greatest efficiency possible.” GM and Pilot aim to add at least four fast-charging stalls at sites spaced about 50 miles apart along major highways, meeting the broad parameters of what the Biden administration wants to see in a national network.

Fast chargers, which repower a battery in about 30 minutes, are particularly in short supply across the U.S., and officials have been focusing on adding more of them along major thoroughfares to address “range anxiety”—the fear that EV drivers will run out of juice—to help spur EV adoption.

While market leader

Tesla Inc.

built a fast-charger network for its own drivers, the U.S. has fewer than 5,000 locations with 10,000 individual fast chargers that anyone can use, according to government data. Most current EVs can travel a few hundred miles before needing to plug in, making highway fast chargers a necessity for drivers to make road trips.

President Biden has signed an executive order calling for half of all cars to be electric or alternative-fuel vehicles by the end of the decade, and auto makers are accelerating plans to go electric following the success of Tesla.

Fuel retailers, though, have been reluctant to invest in EV charging stations in most markets because there aren’t enough EVs on the road yet for most charging stations to turn a profit.

“We are at the point where customers are looking for electric charging, and so we feel this is an appropriate time really to focus on solving range anxiety,” said

Shameek Konar,

Pilot’s chief executive.

Charging provider

EVgo Inc.

will install, operate and maintain the equipment. Pilot and Flying J locations operate 24-7, and Mr. Konar said several sites will include pull-through stalls for electric trucks hauling trailers.

—Nora Eckert contributed to this article.

Write to Jennifer Hiller at [email protected]