Eight of the world’s top automakers – General Motors, Stellantis, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz – have cofounded a charging network called Ionna and have broken ground on its first “Rechargery.” Located in Apex, North Carolina near the Ionna headquarters, the Rechargery will have 10 covered parking bays with both CCS and NACS connectors capable of up to 400 kW.
Ionna, which was announced in July 2023 and named in February, says this is the first of many Rechargery locations. Its ambitious goal is to enable “urban and long-distance EV mobility” by installing over 30,000 “ultra-fast-and-reliable charging points” by 2030.
The Rechargery aims to be more than just a place to charge your EV. It will have an indoor driver’s lounge with bathrooms, coffee service, food and beverages available, and Wi-Fi. Ionna also says outdoor and pet-friendly amenities are nearby.
Although not a large city, Apex, North Carolina is located near the state’s Research Triangle region, home of the massive Research Triangle Park, where 65,000 people work. Its name comes from its geographic proximity to North Carolina’s three nearby research universities: North Carolina State University, Duke University, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In addition to breaking ground on the first Rechargery, Ionna announced that Jackie Slope joined the company as its new Chief Technology Officer. Her background is in the sports and entertainment industry, and she’s led the customer experience at Madison Square Garden and the Crypto.com Arena. Her new position with Ionna will task her with enabling “a frictionless customer experience,” which is needed in the public EV charging industry.
“I am excited to join the Ionna family,” Slope said in a statement. “Having spent my career raising the bar around the customer experience, I am excited to find ways to innovate and elevate the charging experience by serving the customer above all else in this new and exciting industry.”
Comments
Sitting on a hard plastic chair for 8 hours sounds absolutely delightful.
You are only going to be sitting at these places for around 25 to 35 minutes before going out. These aren’t AC home chargers.
That is only IF the charger actually works. And IF there is no wait to actually plug in your golf cart.
And with apps like Plugshare you will know the status of those plugs before you even get there. So there is no problem.
There are more and more charging locations opening, I don’t see this as a problem.
Seems like I’m reading another warning about EVs catching fire in garages and telling owners to park outside away from structures! Hope they don’t get too wet or covered with snow having to park outside! Tomg
That might be Stellantis. Most EV issues are overblown.
From ChatGPT AI app:
The rate of vehicle fires differs between internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and electric vehicles (EVs). Based on available data from fire safety organizations and studies:
• Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles experience a fire rate of about 1 fire per 1,450 vehicles.
• Electric vehicles (EVs) experience a fire rate of about 1 fire per 6,000 vehicles.
This suggests that ICE vehicles are more likely to catch fire than EVs, with some studies estimating that gas-powered cars are about four times more likely to catch fire than electric vehicles. However, it’s important to note that while EV fires are rarer, they can be more difficult to extinguish due to the nature of lithium-ion battery fires.
These statistics may vary slightly depending on the specific year or source of data, but this provides a general comparison.
Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles (EVs)
• Charging time per car: 20 minutes
• Number of stations: 10
• You can charge 30 cars in 1 hour
• You can charge 720 cars in 24 hours
Gas Pumps
• Filling time per car: 6 minutes
• Number of pumps: 10
• You can fill 100 cars in 1 hour
• You can fill 2400 cars in 24 hours
What is more efficient is to consider what happens when natural disasters like hurricanes and hundreds of thousands need to evacuate. Thousands would be stranded and possibly die. Common sense tells you mandating EVs is not viable or sustainable.
Nobody is mandating EVs. The federal government has been offering incentives to those who are interested in minimizing the harm that they cause to the environment. You will always have the choice of buying an ICE car or an EV.
Best to charge your EV over night at Your own home or neighborhood. Then You will not be surprised by a well announced hurricane. Now here with Milton coming You see people at the last moment trying to get gas. My EV has been fully charged since 3 days already.
The great thing about the internet is that there is so much information available. The bad thing about the internet is that there is so much misinformation on it, and there are so many ignorant people making comments and posting misinformation on topics which they have no credible knowledge.
Next, they’ll be doing Saturday night cruises with car hops. Yeah, that’ll be funny
David: No, we don’t always have a choice between ICE and EV. My state has mandated EV only new vehicle sales starting in 2035.