Drew Dowdell

General Motors and Bechtel are teaming up to form a new company to deploy a widespread fast-charging network. Neither company plans to put any money into the project, outside investors are being solicited. The network will help General Motors, which plans to introduce 20 new EVs by 2023. It will also help other manufacturers of EVs. General Motors will provide data to help decide where to locate the EV charging stations and Bechtel will use its own experts for the engineering and building of the stations. Much of the data will come from GM's OnStar system to help learn where people tend to park. Data from both electric and gasoline powered vehicles will be used. Additional fast-charging infrastructure is seen as a requirement to increasing electric vehicle sales. According to a survey by AAA, one of the biggest concerns Americans have about EVs is having enough locations to charge them. The network built by Bechtel and GM will not be limited to interstate highways where most fast charging stations have been located so far. The company will also locate chargers in urban areas targeting apartments and condos where drivers cannot have a home charger of their own. The new venture joins major initiatives from Electrify America, a Volkswagen funded EV station program, and Tesla with Supercharging, to build out a nationwide network of charging stations.

FCA has sent a merger proposal to Renault in what would start as an operational tie-up leading to a full merger. The proposal is a 50/50 deal that will not involve Nissan or Mitsubishi and it estimated to be worth around $33 billion. Few details have been revealed, however, Renault's board said it would issue a press release after the meeting. Rumor has it that Renault is negotiating with FCA without the approval from Nissan or Mitsubishi. If the merger does go through, it would happen over the next 12 months and the combined companies would rank 3rd in the world in terms of production, just behind Toyota and Volkswagen. One complication to the deal is the French government's 15% stake in Renault. FCA has offered a guarantee to keep existing production locations but left the door open for white-collar job cuts. This comes after FCA turned down a merger proposal from PSA back in March of this year.