The first two Green Zone canopies are now running at dealerships in California and Michigan, providing enough electricity for 12 full vehicle charges per day. Excess energy can be used by the dealership.

GM Ventures recently announced it was investing £4.6m ($7.5m) in Sunlogics, the solar panel manufacturer who has installed the equipment at the first two dealerships. The carmaker already gets 1.4% of its US energy from renewable sources.

‘The Chevrolet Green Zone will provide our U.S. dealers with added flexibility when it comes to charging their vehicles, while also reinforcing GM’s commitment to renewable energy projects,’ said Chris Perry, vice president, global Chevrolet marketing and strategy.

‘Just one of these canopies provides enough renewable energy to power two to three homes per year, or more than 25 percent of a dealership’s energy consumption. Collectively, that will be a lot of power we are putting back into the grid.’