GM offers free charging to more of its Latin American Chevy customers

GM’s Latin American expansion continues with news that Chevrolet is offering EV buyers free charging at network at dealerships throughout Peru, where sales of plug-powered vehicles are growing rapidly.

The General is putting serious money into its global EV expansion these days, with a high-profile launch of the Cadillac brand in South America’s largest car market followed closely by this week’s news that the company is making its network of dealership charging infrastructure more accessible to its EV customers through in Peru.

In addition to complementing the growing public charging network options being developed throughout the region, the move directly benefits buyers of cars like the slick Chevy Captiva and chunky Spark EUV – and there are a lot of those.

People like them

“In the first half of the year, sales of electrified vehicles grew by more than 86 percent in Peru, demonstrating increased consumer interest in these technologies,” said Marketing Manager of GM Peru, Melisa Black. “However, this progress must also be accompanied by more charging options. Therefore, from the outset of our launch plan, we have included the installation of charging points at dealerships that sell these models.”

That translates to an impressive 8,285 plug-in Chevrolets sold in Peru during the first half of the year, alone – with more to come as the company continues its push into the region with more affordable, sometimes Chinese-derived EVs.

GM Authority reports that the free chargers are currently available in most of Peru’s major cities, including the capital, Lima, and others in the regions of Arequipa, Cajamarca, Lambayeque, and La Libertad, and are accessible by Chevy customers during regular business hours.

Electrek’s Take

Don’t get me wrong, here. More charging is good news, and more free charging is great news – especially in a region with less reliable access to energy, of all kinds, than we’ve gotten to enjoy here in the US. That said, auto dealerships (be they here, there, or anywhere in between) are capitalist enterprises, and capitalism has a well-established track record of taking a good thing and finding ways to squeeze profits out of good things.

I wrote a bit more about this a few weeks ago, in a piece titled “When public charging stations aren’t so public, and why it matters,” that covered this exact topic from an American perspctive. Give that one a read, then let us know what you think of GM’s plan to get more people comfortable coming to its dealers in the comments.

SOURCE | IMAGES: GM, via GM Authority.