Electric vehicle charging network in U.S.
Electrify America, LLC
is electric vehicle
DC fast-charging
network in the
United States
, with more than 900 stations and over 4,000 DC fast charging connectors as of December 2023
[update]
. It is a subsidiary of
Volkswagen Group of America
, established in late 2016 by the automaker as part of its efforts to offset emissions in the wake of the
Volkswagen emissions scandal
.
Volkswagen
, as part of its settlement following the "Dieselgate" emissions scandal, invested $2 billion in creating Electrify America. In June 2022,
Siemens
became a minority shareholder of the company. Electrify America supports the
CCS
and
CHAdeMO
connector types with plans to add
NACS
connectors starting in 2025. Electrify America has been the target of significant criticism for the perceived lack of reliability and maintenance of its stations.
History
[
edit
]
In 2015, the
United States Environmental Protection Agency
accused
Volkswagen Group
of using
defeat devices
in its
diesel
-fueled vehicles in order to hide from regulators that the vehicles exceeded
emissions
standards. The scandal quickly grew, leading eventually to billions of dollars of penalties and agreements to buy back vehicles, among other consequences.
[1]
[2]
[3]
As part of a
consent decree
reached with United States officials in 2016, Volkswagen agreed to numerous actions, with
US$2 billion
in total, to promote
electric vehicle
use over 10 years to atone for the additional air pollution it caused. One aspect of the program was a pledge to establish a public electric vehicle charging network.
The Electrify America brand was unveiled in January 2017, along with its first phase of station buildout. Its first station opened in May 2018, in
Chicopee, Massachusetts
.
In June 2022, Electrify America received its first external investor with a $450 million investment from
Siemens
for a minority shareholder stake, valuing the company at $2.45 billion.
[4]
[5]
Operations
[
edit
]
Electrify America stations are frequently located in
parking lots
and
parking garages
of
big-box stores
and
shopping malls
. The company has location agreements with
Walmart
,
Target
and
Simon Property Group
, among other companies.
Electrify America stations use the
Combined Charging System
(CCS) and
CHAdeMO
connector types with plans to add
North American Charging Standard
(NACS) connectors starting in 2025.
[6]
[7]
[8]
Stations are rated to provide a minimum of 50
kilowatts
and up to 350 kilowatts, although the actual output is dependent on multiple factors including the vehicle's capabilities.
[9]
[10]
The network's chargers support
Plug & Charge
, a standard that enables an electric car to talk to the charger and handle authentication and billing.
[11]
Drivers can find stations through Electrify America's website,
[12]
smartphone
application or through networks like
PlugShare
. They can pay for electricity through the phone apps or with a
credit card
at the chargers. The Electrify America mobile app
[13]
lets users pay through their phone and receive discounted rates with a subscription.
Electrify America has agreements with various manufacturers for their electric vehicles to use its network of chargers or provide discounted charging rates or free charging, including
BMW Group
,
Ford
,
Hyundai Motor Group
,
Lucid Motors
,
Mercedes-Benz
,
Polestar
,
VinFast
,
Volvo Cars
, and
Volkswagen Group
.
[14]
Electrify America prices its electricity in most states where it operates based on the energy dispensed, charged by
kilowatt-hour
. In some states, such as Montana and Wyoming, users are charged by the amount of time their vehicle is plugged in. This is usually because the state allows only
electric utilities
to charge for the amount of electricity a customer uses. In August 2023, Electrify America announced that it would price their chargers based on
time of use
and slowly roll out this update to many of their existing chargers. In addition, Electrify America charges an idle fee when a car is done charging at select locations.
[15]
Electrify America is also building a charger network in
Canada
called
Electrify Canada
, and added a commercial section in January 2021 targeting business, utilities and government agencies. Electrify Commercial provides customized end-to-end EV charging solutions to businesses, utility companies, fleet owners, travel centers and convenience stores. In May 2023, they announced an agreement with
Rocky Mountain Power
to provide fast charging options across the state of Utah with Electrify Commercial providing the charging equipment, installation, and ongoing operations with maintenance.
Electrify Home is also a business unit of Electrify America. They provide charging solutions targeted towards residential charging solutions and is offering a Level 2 residential charger, HomeStation, to its customers.
Criticism
[
edit
]
Electrify America has been the target of significant criticism for the perceived lack of reliability and maintenance of its stations, especially in comparison to the
Tesla Supercharger
network. There are numerous reports of charge dispensers that remain inoperable or capable of only delivering limited power for weeks or months at a time.
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
The perception is that Electrify America, and all U.S. charging network providers except Tesla, have been more focused on installing new stations than funding operations and maintenance. Electrify America, with almost 4,000 chargers, faces criticism for its day-to-day performance, with reliability issues and consumer dissatisfaction. Despite efforts to improve, drivers report frustration with broken screens, faulty payment systems, and chargers providing less than maximum charging speed.
[16]
[18]
In December 2023, Electrify America announced it would spend $172 million to replace or upgrade 600 charging stations in California in response to the network's subpar performance. The upgrade would replace stations that were installed as part of the company's first two waves of expansion in 2018.
[20]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"VW's Electrify America to install EV chargers at Walmart stores"
.
Reuters
. April 18, 2018 – via www.reuters.com.
- ^
Shepardson, David (February 7, 2017).
"VW launches U.S. electric vehicle infrastructure unit"
.
Yahoo Finance
. Reuters
. Retrieved
August 22,
2018
.
- ^
"VW launches U.S. electric vehicle infrastructure unit"
.
finance.yahoo.com
. February 7, 2017
. Retrieved
April 10,
2020
.
- ^
Dummett, Ben (June 27, 2022).
"Volkswagen Nears Deal to Sell Stake in Electrify America to Siemens"
.
The Wall Street Journal
. Retrieved
June 28,
2022
.
- ^
"Volkswagen and Siemens invest in Electrify America's ambitious growth plans"
(Press release).
Wolfsburg
,
Germany
: Volkswagen Group News. June 28, 2022
. Retrieved
June 28,
2022
.
- ^
"ELECTRIC VEHICLES: How Volkswagen turned from diesel pariah into electric gorilla"
.
www.eenews.net
. Retrieved
April 10,
2020
.
- ^
Gitlin, Jonathan M. (June 29, 2023).
"Two more EV charging networks will add support for Tesla-style NACS plugs"
.
Ars Technica
. Retrieved
June 29,
2023
.
- ^
Lewis, Michelle (June 29, 2023).
"Electrify America, Blink to add Tesla's NACS connector to their EV chargers"
.
Electrek
. Retrieved
June 29,
2023
.
- ^
"Locate a public EV charger"
.
Electrify America
. Retrieved
December 1,
2020
.
- ^
"Electrify America installing 150/350 kW fast chargers at more than 100 Walmart locations"
.
Green Car Congress
. Retrieved
December 1,
2020
.
- ^
Gitlin, Jonathan (November 16, 2020).
"Seamless car charging comes to Electrify America with Plug&Charge ? Model Year 2021 EVs from Ford, Lucid, and Porsche will support the new standard"
.
Ars Technica
. Retrieved
November 17,
2020
.
- ^
"Locate a Charger ? Electrify America"
.
Electrify America
. Retrieved
November 17,
2020
.
- ^
"Mobile App ? Electrify America"
.
Electrify America
. Retrieved
November 17,
2020
.
- ^
"Fast Facts"
.
Electrify America
. Retrieved
January 19,
2024
.
- ^
"Electrify America Is Completely Changing Its Pricing Structure"
.
InsideEVs
. Retrieved
August 30,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
Voelcker, John (August 28, 2023).
"How automakers' disappointment in Electrify America drove them into Tesla's arms"
.
Charged EVs
. Retrieved
January 20,
2024
.
- ^
Kane, Mark (June 7, 2022).
"Study: Public Chargers Far Less Reliable Than Previously Reported"
.
InsideEVs
. Retrieved
January 20,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
Osaka, Shannon (December 15, 2023).
"VW spent $2B to build America a charging network. It's ranked dead last"
.
Washington Post
.
ISSN
0190-8286
. Retrieved
January 20,
2024
.
- ^
"California's EV charging network could use a jolt, a trip down I-5 shows"
.
Los Angeles Times
. September 22, 2022
. Retrieved
October 20,
2022
.
- ^
"Electrify America To Replace 600 Chargers In California, Invest $172 Million"
.
InsideEVs
. Retrieved
January 2,
2024
.
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Electrify America
at Wikimedia Commons
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