Car-charging company is on a tear, buying GE stations, securing investments

Enlarge / Closeup of Chargepoint electric-vehicle charger at Google headquarters in Silicon Valley (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images). (credit: Getty Images)

Car-charging network ChargePoint announced that it would buy General Electric’s electric vehicle (EV) charging stations today for an undisclosed amount of money. ChargePoint also announced a $43 million investment from Siemens, which will be used to improve European infrastructure for EVs.

The purchase of the GE stations will add close to 10,000 charging stations to ChargePoint's network, with 1,800 commercial charging stations and 8,000 residential. GE’s charging hardware and software won’t be changed, but ChargePoint said in a press release that existing GE station customers and owners would be able to “take advantage of smart features such as access control, pricing capabilities, and software solutions like energy management and scheduled charging.” Drivers who previously used GE charging stations can now track their usage and search for ChargePoint stations through the company’s mobile app.

The latest $43 million investment in the company from Siemens closed out a $125 million funding round (Daimler was the other largest investor in this round). Siemens supplies ChargePoint with direct-current charging components. Ralf Christian, CEO of the Siemens Energy Management Division, will join the ChargePoint board of directors.