• While Amazon reportedly is laying people off and scaling back some of its investment in its devices business, CNBC reports that Amazon "is betting that Alexa, its voice-activated virtual assistant, can help ease one of electric vehicle drivers’ biggest worries: finding a charging station while on the road."
Amazon last week announced a new collaboration with EVGo, described as "one of the largest U.S. charging networks," that will enable people with cards equipped with Alexa systems to navigate to its charging stations and pay for service, all via voice command.
CNBC writes that "while Tesla owners can rely on the company’s proprietary 'Supercharger' network, drivers of non-Tesla EVs are confronted with a mishmash of competing charging networks, chargers that may not be well maintained, and apps that provide incomplete — and sometimes outdated — information."
Anes Hodžić, vice president at Amazon’s Smart Vehicles group, tells CNBC, "We want Alexa to be useful for customers in their everyday lives, and EV charging is a great example of a task that can be simplified and made more convenient through the power of AI."
