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

  • UK government: compulsory installation of EV charge points and insurance for AV drivers
    October 19, 2017
    Motorway services and large petrol retailers will have to install charge points for electric vehicles (EVs), under the UK Government's Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill, presented by transport minister John Hayes. In addition, official research estimates that the market for driverless vehicles will be worth £50 billion ($66 billion) by 2035. The bill will increase the access and availability of charge points for EVs, which will have to be ‘smart,' meaning that they can interact with the grid to manage
    Read More
  • IBM and NXP partner on Dutch connected car pilot
    February 21, 2013
    The first results of a smarter traffic pilot, conducted in the Dutch city of Eindhoven by IBM and NXP Semiconductors demonstrate how the connected car automatically shares braking, acceleration and location data that can be analysed by the central traffic authority to identify and resolve road network issues, say the companies. “The trial successfully showed that anonymous information from vehicles can be analysed by local traffic authorities to resolve road network issues faster, reduce congestion and impr
    Read More
  • Ford investing US$4.5 billion in electrified vehicle solutions
    December 14, 2015
    Ford is investing an additional US$4.5 billion in electrified vehicle solutions, adding 13 new electrified vehicles to its portfolio by 2020, when more than 40 per cent of the company’s global brands will come in electrified versions. This represents Ford’s largest-ever electrified vehicle investment in a five-year period. On the way next year is a new Focus Electric, which features all-new DC fast-charge capability delivering an 80 percent charge in an estimated 30 minutes and projected 100-mile range
    Read More

Highlighted Content