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

  • St Louis red light cameras changing driver behaviour
    November 5, 2012
    According to a new analysis of the City of St. Louis' violator-funded red-light safety camera program carried out by safety camera supplier American Traffic Systems (ATS), drivers are adopting safer driving habits by stopping at red lights. As drivers comply with the law, the risk of dangerous red-light running collisions is reduced, and streets become safer for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. The study reviewed nearly 350,000 red-light running violations issued in the city from the time the program bega
    Read More
  • Israel’s public transport infrastructure ‘lags behind developed countries’
    March 20, 2015
    According to a new report soon to be published by the Bank of Israel, the level of infrastructure in Israel remains lower in some areas—particularly in the area of metropolitan public transit—than in most developed countries. This report, according to an advance copy released this week, examines the level of available infrastructure and investments associated with the sector, as well as how the country fares in these arenas in comparison to other nations. It claims the volume of investment in urban and inte
    Read More
  • Nidec ASI presents ultra fast charger for new generation EVs
    May 9, 2018
    Italian industrial solutions company Nidec ASI has launched a charger which it claims can recharge electric vehicles up to 80% of their capacity in under 15 minutes. The company says that its Ultra Fast Charger (UFC) will provide drivers with 500km travel and minimise the impact on the electricity grid.
    Read More
  • Parkopedia and Mercedes expand payments and reservations
    May 4, 2023
    Drivers can search for parking and pay using OEM's latest infotainment system
    Read More

Highlighted Content