Kia becomes latest automaker to partner with Amazon for electric car charging stations

Kia announced that it is partnering with Amazon to sell and install electric car charging stations — becoming the second automaker to get onboard with the online retail giant becoming a charging station hub.

As we previously reported, Amazon has been seriously getting into electric car charging stations lately.

Last year, the company announced a new electric car chargers program with installation as a turn-key solution.

Amazon has been selling home and mobile charging stations for a long time. They now have over 100 products available.

Those can be purchased like any other product, but they are now also partnering directly with automakers to offer their installation service Amazon’s Happiness Guarantee to be the main charging solution providers for new car buyers.

Audi was the first onboard with the e-tron in the US and Kia is also making the leap.

Orth Hedrick, executive director of Car Planning and Telematics at Kia, made the announcement:

“Home-charging can’t get any easier than this. Being able to order a Level 2 charger and installation through Amazon further demystifies and simplifies the experience for new Kia EV and PHEV owners. It’s just another example of how we’re constantly striving to provide the very best vehicles and customer experience.”

They have created a new “Charge my Kia” portal where Kia EV buyers can easily buy a charging station, or simply a NEMA outlet, and get an appointment for installation.

interestingly, Kia partnered with Bosch and they are suggesting Bosch’s 40-amp station — though Amazon is also pushing its bestsellers on the page, like the Chargepoint and Juicebox home stations.

Electrek’s Take

I see what Amazon is doing there and it’s really smart. They were already becoming a marketplace for charging stations, but they’re now leveraging Amazon Home Services, which is a marketplace for things like home cleaning and handyman work, to expand into electrical work to install the stations.

I would have thought that more automakers would have wanted to get into that themselves, but now two important automakers are already onboard.

Let’s see where this goes…