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

  • Free-flow tolling needs classification technology rethink
    February 2, 2012
    The move to all-electronic fee collection should be encouraging tolling authorities to look again at whether their vehicle classification criteria and technologies remain at all appropriate. Bob Lees of Idris Technology writes
    Read More
  • Indra technology to manage Medellín’s traffic and public transportation
    August 15, 2012
    Spain-headquartered Indra has become the technological leader for Medellín's traffic and transportation systems after being awarded two contracts valued at just over US$11 million. The first contract, awarded by the Medellín Subway, will allow the city to have an intermodal public transportation system that is unique in Colombia and will facilitate the management and the combined use of the subway and buses.
    Read More
  • HMI commence third driverless vehicle trial at La Trobe University, Melbourne
    November 15, 2017
    HMI Technologies (HMI) has launched its third self-driving vehicle trial with a consortium of partners at La Trobe University, in Melbourne, Australia. The trial intends to further help authorities and commercial businesses to research the benefits and limitations of the technology, and identify how it will become part of the public transport network of tomorrow. The La Trobe Autonobus (LTA) will soon connect students and staff at the University campus to other transport network nodes such as trams and bus
    Read More
  • US$2.3 million to cut bus pollution
    October 29, 2013
    Five UK local authorities are to receive funding to cut pollution from buses, improving air quality in towns and cities across England. Transport Minister Baroness Kramer has today (28 October 2013) announced additional support under the Clean Bus Technology Fund to cut emissions from 92 local buses. The five local authorities (Brighton and Hove City Council, Sunderland City Council and Durham County Council, Oxford City Council, Swale Borough Council and City of York Council) will each receive grants of
    Read More

Highlighted Content