Taking a road trip in a General Motors-built electric car just got a lot more convenient. EVs made by Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac are now compatible with Tesla’s Supercharger charging stations, though drivers will need to purchase an adapter before they can start plugging in.
Opening the Supercharger network to General Motors-built EVs adds over 17,800 charging stations to the list of places where drivers can stop and charge. This should take some of the stress out of taking an EV on a long trip, as Tesla’s Supercharger stations are scattered across the nation and built in strategic locations. Tesla notes that a Supercharger is capable of adding up to 200 miles of range in about 15 minutes.
However, you can’t simply park, say, a Chevrolet Bolt in front of a Supercharger and plug in. The charging cable isn’t compatible with the charging port that General Motors puts in its cars, so owners will need to purchase an adapter priced at $225. The part will be distributed via a mobile app that will also let EV owners locate available Tesla Supercharger stations, check the station’s status, and pay for electricity.
It sounds like the adapter will be compatible with every EV that General Motors-owned brands have built to date. This includes vehicles like the GMC Hummer EV, the Cadillac Lyriq, and the Chevrolet Blazer EV. General Motors plans to make the adapter obsolete by fitting its cars with a Supercharger-compatible charging port directly on the assembly line, though production isn’t scheduled to start until 2025.
General Motors isn’t the only brand that has recently adopted Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS); Carmakers are setting aside their rivalries in the name of customer service. Long reserved for Tesla drivers, the Supercharger network can now be used to charge cars from Ford, Rivian, Honda, and Volvo. Charging network operator Electrify America plans to integrate Tesla’s NACS plug as well.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.