One of the notable things about the EV fast charger on display at a factory in Auburn Hills on Tuesday was how its design seemed to borrow from the familiarity of a gas pump even as its mission is tied to an electrified future.

The unit featured two chargers with long extendable cables, overhead lighting (although no canopy like at a gas station), a relatively big 12-inch touch screen and a credit card reader. The unit clearly wasn’t there to pump gas — a Chevrolet Bolt was even sitting next to it — but the look seemed to signal the purpose in a way that would make sense to people who already drive EVs and to those who haven't had much experience with them.

The unit is called the Flo Ultra, the latest offering from Flo, an electric vehicle charger company based in Quebec City in Canada. Production of the Flo Ultra, a Level 3 charger, is expected to begin next year in Auburn Hills, where the company has a production plant, and it's a charger that the company hopes will further its goals of making the charging process easier and more reliable. Flo, notably, also has a connection to General Motors. The automaker selected Flo to supply Level 2 EV chargers for its Dealer Community Charging Program, which it announced in 2021.

GM spokeswoman Natalee Runyan said more than 1,100 dealers, now including Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac, have enrolled in the program to date, with expectations that will grow. A Free Press article in December noted that the program intends to add up to 40,000 Level 2 chargers in local communities, including underserved areas.

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On Tuesday, members of the Flo leadership team were at the Auburn Hills facility for a discussion with the Automotive Press Association about the future of EV charging, describing what they’ve learned about improving the EV experience and how they hope to be a big part of the U.S. EV landscape in the coming years, which is being powered by both growing consumer interest and a regulatory push. The Biden administration, for instance, recently proposed tighter emissions rules it said could lead to “electrification of 67% of new sedans, crossovers, SUVs, and light trucks” in 10 years if finalized.

Flo, which has chargers in New York and California currently, has a goal of bringing 250,000 EV chargers to the U.S. market by 2028.

Louis Tremblay, Flo’s president and CEO, said that since the company was founded in 2009, it has been clear to him and his team that many EV drivers share similar problematic experiences.

“We want all EV drivers to feel confident, safe and secure,” he said. “They don’t want to pull up at 10 o’clock p.m. at night with poor lighting to find ... only a broken cable or an offline charging station, a situation we’ve seen too many times in North America over the last 15 years.”

Creating a better experience for individual EV drivers is crucial, and convincing drivers that charging can be easy and reliable are essential to the expansion of EVs. Unreliable chargers weaken that foundation, he said.

Nathan Yang, chief product officer, said feedback the company’s gotten from EV drivers is that charging can often be intimidating and that the public chargers themselves are often installed in areas without lighting.

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Although an estimated 80% of charging happens at home, there are areas that offer limited options for charging when it’s needed.

It’s no secret, Yang said, that there are a lot of EV charging deserts in the United States, which leads to inequities in access. He referenced areas of Chicago without available chargers, but also noted that he had trouble finding a charger at a hotel he stayed at in Dallas.

Although the company is currently supplying chargers, such as for GM’s dealership program, a deal that Tremblay called a proof point for the company, he said the company would eventually own charging units, too.

“Our business model will evolve as the market evolves,” he said.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: EV charger company Flo to make newest fast charger in Auburn Hills