Charging a Recharge Volvo was never easier

For over a century, drivers around the globe have gotten used to simply driving into a gas station, checking the going rate for their fuel of choice, filling up their tank and continuing their journey.

We think charging your electric car should be just as easy, because that ease-of-mind is crucial if we want everyone to make the switch. So, we’re rolling out some initiatives that should help ease the transition to an all-electric future.

First of all, as much as is practically possible, we aim to get rid of all those different charging apps, RFID cards and payment systems. Instead, our Volvo Cars app will become a one-stop shop for a wide variety of charging-related services. You’ll be able to find charging stations, get live updates on availability and pay for your charge through one, easy-to-use interface. Charging a pure electric Volvo was never easier.

Depending on regions, we have collaborations with a variety of leading charging operators all around the world, including Plugsurfing, TELD, ChargePoint and Electrify America. Together they amount to hundreds of thousands charging stations around the globe, most of which will be accessible through the Volvo Cars app. Each region also incorporates the dominant payment systems, so in China for example, we make sure to integrate WeChat Pay and Alipay.

“Many of us are familiar with the frustration of having to navigate multiple apps and carrying multiple cards for different charging operators,” says Olivier Loedel, our head of electrification ecosystem development. “Our goal was to make life easier for our customers and remove one of the major barriers for customers to switch to an electric car. With the Volvo Cars app, we will create one digital charging platform.”

We also aim to boost electrification by focusing on infrastructure and public charging. That’s why we’re making public charging investments in areas of strategic importance. For example, around Europe we work together with local partners to build public charging points. These are located at our retailers and along commuter roads, in countries as varied as Spain, Poland, Italy and Belgium.

Another example is our recently announced partnership with Starbucks in the US. On a 1,350-mile stretch between Denver and Seattle, where Starbucks has its headquarters, we’ll install dozens of Volvo-branded, ChargePoint-powered DC fast chargers at Starbucks locations. Drivers will find a charging location at about every 100 miles, well within the battery range of our pure electric models.

Finally, in a variety of countries and markets we have preferential pricing agreements for our customers. For example, through charging operator Plugsurfing electric Volvo drivers benefit from special rates for the first 12 months when charging at IONITY stations around Europe. In Sweden and Norway, we’ve teamed up with charging operator MER to offer preferential rates in those countries, and we have similar offers and collaborations in the US and China.

In other words, all of the above is another way of looking at our much-repeated mantra that “electrifying our cars is not enough”. Making sure that charging your car is as easy as filling up the tank is just as important – if we want to fill the roads with pure electric Volvos and say goodbye to gasoline and diesel once and for all, that is.