Hyundai, Nissan Roll Out Services to Make It Easier to Own an EV
Hyundai Home is a new online service the automaker is providing to electric-vehicle customers to help them find local contractors to install EV home chargers, solar panels, and maybe a home battery.
Nissan also announced EV Carefree+ at the L.A. auto show. This is a collection of services including free public charging and roadside assistance to reduce anxiety in new EV drivers.
Automakers have been experimenting with different ways of encouraging EV adoption with projects like this. GM, for example, will pay to have L2 home chargers installed when someone buys a new Bolt, and many automakers work with Qmerit to find reliable local contractors.
Hyundai is working on making it easier for car buyers to choose a plug-in vehicle with a new program called Hyundai Home. The new website, which was announced today at the Los Angeles auto show, acts like an intermediary between someone who just purchased a new Hyundai EV and the boring nuts and bolts of getting a home charger permitted and installed and maybe filing for some local government or utility incentives.
The Hyundai Home Marketplace uses your home address to find EV-related services available there. In my case, I was able to see options for rooftop solar and home battery storage, but the EV home charger section was not yet operational. Requesting information about rooftop solar brings up a personalized but auto-generated estimate of the lifetime savings of installing solar panels. The home energy storage tab works similarly, providing an estimate of how much it would cost you to install enough batteries to power your home for a week. All of these estimates get refined by an actual installer or contractor once you complete the forms on the website, and the marketplace ends up providing customers with three bids for each project they might be interested in.
Hyundai Home also offers human Energy Advisors who can answer questions about the technologies involved. Hyundai first announced the Hyundai Home project at the 2021 L.A. show and has partnered with Electrum to make it operational. The site currently works in 16 states, but nationwide operation is "coming soon."
Other Companies at Work on EV Logistics
Hyundai has company when it comes to offering EV shoppers help getting set up for home charging. GM will cover the installation of Level 2 charging outlet for new Bolt EV or Bolt EUV customers, for example, and works with Qmerit to find verified installers. Automakers including Audi, BMW, and Cadillac all work with Qmerit to find local electricians for their customers, and Qmerit also offers home charger installation help for people who didn't just buy their EV at a dealership.
Another new EV benefits program was announced alongside the Hyundai House at the L.A. show. Nissan announced a "care initiative" called EV Carefree+ that will provide EV transition assistance to Ariya and Leaf buyers, as well as customers of future Nissan electric vehicles. EV Carefree+ is the branded name for some services Nissan was already offering, like an eight-year/100,000-mile battery warranty and roadside assistance, along with some complimentary public charging with EVgo and included scheduled maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles. Nissan also partners with Qmerit for home charger installations.
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