ReachNow installs 20 public EV charging stations in Seattle

BMW’s ReachNow car-sharing service has installed the first of 20 Light & Charge electric vehicle (EV) charging locations in Seattle, US, as part of a US$1.2 million investment by the BMW Group. Seattle is the first city in North America to make the award-winning Light & Charge system, which turns existing streetlights into EV charging stations, available to the public.
May 23, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
BMW’s ReachNow car-sharing service has installed the first of 20 Light & Charge electric vehicle (EV) charging locations in Seattle, US, as part of a US$1.2 million investment by the BMW Group. Seattle is the first city in North America to make the award-winning Light & Charge system, which turns existing streetlights into EV charging stations, available to the public.


The Light & Charge system, developed by BMW together with its partner, eluminocity US, transforms existing street and parking lot light poles into connected nodes on a smart city network. The system combines LED lighting, EV charging and a sensor bus that senses various parameters and connects the site to the cloud. The sensor bus also provides edge-computing power for other connected devices nearby.

In Seattle, each Light & Charge site will include one ChargePoint DC Fast Charger and two to four AC, Level II chargers. The chargers all run on the ChargePoint network and will all be available to the public and compatible with any EV that has a standard SAE J1772 charging port.

The addition of Light & Charge stations in Seattle will also allow ReachNow to expand its shared fleet of EVs. Today, the electric BMW i3 vehicle makes up 10 per cent of the total ReachNow fleet and, with less than a year on the road, ReachNow’s shared electric fleet claims to have saved more than 55 tons of CO2 emissions.

Related Content

  • Pioneering new passenger information systems
    February 3, 2012
    Chicago pioneers new passenger information initiatives. By David Crawford
    Read More
  • New research finds huge sustainability benefits from new urban mobility models
    June 29, 2016
    New research by UK communications technology specialist BT and Frost & Sullivan finds that new urban mobility models such as ride-sharing, smart parking technologies and ride-on-demand could reduce the amount of cars needed on urban roads globally by up to 20 million vehicles per year in 2025, offering huge sustainability benefits and an improved experience for travellers. The research, Environmentally Sustainable Innovation in Automotive Manufacturing and Urban Mobility, suggests that consumer trends t
    Read More
  • The search for travel management's Holy Grail
    October 10, 2018
    Combining accurate network estimates and forecasts with real-time information is the way to deal with traffic hot spots. Alan Dron looks at products which aim to achieve just that. Traffic management authorities have for years been trying to get ahead of the game. Instead of reacting to situations, they want to be able to head them off as they occur – or even before they happen. Finding that Holy Grail of successfully anticipating problems will save time, tension and tempers on city streets. Two new system
    Read More
  • Tata to supply Tritium DC fast chargers in India
    March 14, 2019
    Automobile components company Tata AutoComp Systems has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to supply Tritium’s chargers for electric vehicles (EVs) in India. Tata says Tritium’s Veefil-RT DC fast chargers supply power to a range of EVs, including two-wheelers, passenger and commercial vehicles. David Finn, co-founder of Tritium, says the MoU coincides with the FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacture of Hybrid and EVs) scheme. “The FAME policy is among the most progressive initiatives in the
    Read More

Highlighted Content