Mercedes-Benz launches me Charge
By the fall, Mercedes-Benz brought its very first electric sedan, the EQS, in our market. New owners will be invited to use the app me Charge, a new service which, according to the manufacturer, will make it easier to recharge its vehicles in the country.
In fact, Mercedes-Benz Canada says it has partnered with established charging station providers like ChargePoint and Flo. The Charge me application will take care of finding the appropriate terminals, as well as managing their activation and billing via a single service.
When the EQS is marketed in the country, the manufacturer promises that just over 4,900 public terminals will be made available to owners through this service. The application will go so far as to identify another some 2,400 semi-public terminals that can also be used through the application, across the country.
Mercedes-Benz Canada will also allow EQS buyers to integrate the purchase and installation of a home charging station into its financing plans. This is the FLO Maison X5 terminal including intelligent charging functions such as remote updates or programmable charging times.
This strategy of establishing an ecosystem capable of bringing together charging stations will no doubt facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles at Mercedes, but there are still some questions surrounding the Charge me service. The manufacturer does not mention any costs in its press release. Will consumers be entitled to reduced pricing by using this service? Will Mercedes be offering promotions like the first year free?
Nothing has also been said about the specificities of the Quebec market. Here, the best-established charging network remains the Hydro-Québec Electric Circuit and not ChargePoint. We therefore do not know whether the Charge me service also plans to partner with the Electric Circuit, which, let us remember, already offers access to more than 3,500 public terminals via a free mobile application.
