Your Customers Are Towing More Than You Think

Imagine this: one of your customers is a contractor. He’s driving past your location with a trailer loaded with tools, heading to a site. He’s got a half-hour window to sort out something with you—maybe to sign a document, pick up a part, or return a piece of equipment. But there’s no parking space long enough, no dedicated bay, no way to easily fit his rig without unhitching. So he keeps driving. That lost interaction is exactly the kind of friction your SME can remove, and it’s the same problem EVgo and GM just solved for electric vehicle owners—not with a mad dash of raw technology, but with thoughtful design.

What Happened

On August 12, 2026, EVgo and GM opened a flagship DC fast-charging station in Warren, Michigan, right across from GM’s Global Technical Center. It’s a 12-stall site with 350-kW chargers, capable of adding a full charge in “as little as 15 minutes” depending on the vehicle, battery temperature, and starting state of charge, according to EVgo (source). The headline feature, though, isn’t the kilowatts—it’s the layout.

The station offers pull-through charging bays, meaning drivers towing trailers can plug in and charge without unhitching. A canopy covers the whole setup, and it sits at a Meijer grocery store, so drivers can shop while their car tops up. The site is part of a broader flagship rollout—EVgo says they expect more than 100 flagship stalls online by the end of 2026, and the company has already installed nearly 2,400 stalls across 32 states with GM’s support (source).

Also notable: Michigan’s EV population grew sixfold between 2021 and 2025, per EVgo’s analysis of Experian vehicle registration data (source). Infrastructure is expanding where adoption is already accelerating—a lesson in reading the room before you build.

Why This Matters for Malaysian SMEs

You don’t operate EV chargers, and your customers don’t tow trailers to your shop. But the principle is universal: the best businesses reduce every awkward step between an intention and an outcome. When EVgo designed a bay where a driver can keep the trailer attached, they weren’t just adding “a feature”—they removed a major reason to avoid the station altogether. Your Malaysian SME can audit your own customer journey the same way. What’s your “unhitching” moment? Maybe it’s the requirement to call ahead, fill out a paper form, or hunt for staff when your client is already stressed and in a rush.

Think about the service and repair shops in Malaysia that deal with fleet vans, delivery motorcycles, or passenger vans with roof accessories. These customers often arrive with a vehicle that they can’t easily reverse or fit into a standard bay. How many of them have you turned away because you didn’t have a “pull-through” workflow? A simple booking system that lets them specify “trailer attached” and a dedicated lane or parking spot could be your equivalent of a pull-through bay. You can even pre-schedule their job so they’re in and out in 15 minutes, matching EVgo’s promise. It doesn’t require big spending—just a small adjustment to your process.

“The EV-driver customer experience is paramount as American consumers choose whether to drive electric. Through our collaboration with GM, we are meeting EV drivers where they are and seamlessly integrating infrastructure options into drivers’ lives.” — EVgo president Dennis Kish (source)

That phrase—”meeting drivers where they are”—is a goldmine for a small business owner. Where is your customer already standing? Not where you wish they would stand, but literally. If your local SME is in an industrial area, your client might be in a truck that can’t stop easily. If you’re a retail shop, your customers might have kids in the car, so they want to be out in under ten minutes. EVgo chose to place this station at a grocery store, not in a remote industrial park. They made the charging experience a part of a useful pitstop. What pitstop are you part of? Can you align your location, hours, and service speed with the natural rhythm of your customer’s day?

The Bigger Picture

This story is about infrastructure, but it’s also about patience and vision. EVgo and GM first announced the flagship program in 2024 with a plan for 400 stalls in major metro areas (source). That’s a two-year+ investment horizon. Meanwhile, at a smaller scale, you can take a page from them: don’t just solve today’s problem; solve tomorrow’s annoyance. In Malaysia, the EV charging network is growing, but the current standard is still cramped parking lots and inaccessible plugs. An SME that positions itself today as “the easy stop for electric work vehicles” will be remembered when that market swells.

There’s another layer: EVgo, GM, and Pilot Company recently passed 1,300 fast-charging stalls across 300 travel-centre locations in 40 states (source). They’re embedding EV charging into existing rest stops rather than forcing drivers onto weird detours. Your SME can do the same by integrating with platforms your customers already use—maybe your business appears on Malaysia’s most popular navigation app, or you allow WhatsApp scheduling with a simple auto-reply that confirms a “trailer-friendly” arrival window. You don’t need to build a grand HQ; you need to slide into the flow your customers already have.

Quick Ways to Remove Your ‘Unhitching’ Friction

• Audit your most repeated customer request. Ask yourself: what is the single extra step your employees do manually for 80% of jobs? Automate it so customers don’t even need to ask.
• Map the “arrival moment.” List every obstacle between someone walking in and getting served—from parking to forms to countdowns. Then remove one each month.
• Design for the awkward vehicle. If you serve businesses with vans, lorry, or modified vehicles, test your entrance and turnaround space with an actual large vehicle, or ask a client to record their arrive-and-park experience.
• Re-evaluate partnerships like EVgo did with Meijer. Could you offer service while the customer’s car is being serviced nearby? A coffee shop next door, a car wash, a laundry—joint promotions can create that “pitstop” feeling.

Table: What EVgo/GM Did vs. What Your SME Can Do

EVgo/GM’s Move	Your SME Equivalent
Pull-through charging bays	A designated quick-service bay for vans and long vehicles
350-kW chargers (15-minute fill)	A fast-lane counter for pre-booked jobs
Located at grocery store	Book near other errands your customer runs
Better lighting and layout	Clear signage, wide walkways, and open visibility
Partnership with GM and Meijer	Collaborate with suppliers, payment providers, or neigbouring boutiques

Ultimately, this Michigan station is one small piece of a global shift: infrastructure is becoming service design. Malaysian SMEs have the advantage of smaller scale, which means faster iterations. Start with the biggest headache your customers keep mentioning, treat it as your “trailer problem,” and engineer a pull-through. That’s how you turn a convenience feature into a reason people choose you.

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