Ionna Rechargeries Are Coming To More Than 350 Circle K S…
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Today, the IONNA charging network announced that it’s partnering with Circle K to bring its “Rechargery” experience to more than 350 Circle K locations in the US. IONNA will start with 85 existing Circle K charging sites, with the first Rechargeries powering up electric vehicles by the end of the year, “ed by additional scale in 2027,” IONNA said.
IONNA was founded back in 2023 by eight OEMs: BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Toyota. Its plan is to deploy 30,000 high-speed chargers across the US by 2030, starting with its first locations in 2024. Currently, there are 108 IONNA locations operational with 375 NACS and 658 CCS plugs, assuming the Department of Energy’s Alternative Fueling Station Locator remains a reliable resource.
Lengthy permitting delays are one of the main factors slowing the build-out of fast-charging infrastructure, and partnering with sites that already have some chargers installed will certainly help speed things up, at least a little.
IONNA is taking over the operation of Circle K’s chargers—378 plugs at 93 stations, according to the DOE. The majority will become Rechargeries, IONNA’s concept for sites with canopies, sufficient lighting, and a focus on nighttime safety, along with bathrooms, a driver’s lounge, and food and drink options. Nearly 200 more Rechargeries are coming to Circle Ks in the future.
“We are honored that Circle K has recognized IONNA as a leader in the industry and entrusted us to serve their customers with the same care and commitment to excellence that they show now. Circle K’s scale, customer focus, and quality of location make them an ideal partner as we rapidly expand high-power charging where drivers already want to stop,” said Aaron Wolff, IONNA’s COO.
“Partnering with IONNA enables us to scale high-power charging quickly at locations drivers already trust—combining fast, reliable charging with a great food and beverage experience. This partnership is an important step in preparing for the future, delivering not just charging but a complete retail experience that supports our customers on the go,” said Håkon Stiksrud, Circle K’s vice president of global emobility. The company opened its first EV charging-only location near Gothenburg, Sweden, last year.
Here in the US, IONNA has been partnering with other chains of travel plazas and gas stations. Sheetz, Wawa, and Casey’s are also partners for Rechargery locations.
More chargers than you might think
Since public fast-charging locations are often invisible to the 98+ percent of Americans who don’t have an EV, and assuming the DOE AFSL data is still good, there are currently 17,557 fast-charging locations in the US and Canada, for a total of 79,564 plugs.
A majority of those are NACS plugs—42,879 of them, at 4,739 locations. NACS, also known as J3400, uses the smaller, lighter Tesla-designed plug and is now the standard for most new EVs in the US. Of those nearly 5,000 NACS locations, 3,334 are Tesla Supercharger sites, with a total of 39,993 plugs. (Come on, Tesla, add another seven.)
You’ll find many more CCS1 locations out there. While this might have been the de facto standard for all non-Tesla EVs until 2024, there was no equivalent to Tesla’s giant Supercharger network, so the 14,193 locations include a bewildering array of operators, totaling 38,157 plugs. Meanwhile, I was surprised to discover there are still quite a lot of CHAdeMO sites out there: 7,585 locations with 11,286 plugs, according to the DOE data. That will be good news for all you first- and second-generation Nissan Leaf drivers, as well as anyone who picked that option on their Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and wants to pay a lot of money for a charge that won’t be much faster than just using level 2 AC power instead.
We already know there are 108 IONNA spots with 1,028 plugs, but what about some of the better-known charging networks? Electrify America has 1,133 locations and 5,539 plugs, but they’re mostly CCS: four locations have a total of 32 NACS plugs.
EVgo, which partnered with GM Energy a while ago, has the edge on locations—1,192—but loses to EA on plug count, with 5,022. Forty-one EVgo locations have NACS already, with a total of 106 plugs.
ChargePoint has a similar number of DC fast chargers in its network: 5,121, but spread out over 4,691 locations. Of these, 644 have a total of 686 NACS plugs.
Other automakers are also building out charging networks (which are open to other makes of EV). In addition to its participation in the IONNA joint venture, Mercedes-Benz is building a separate network of fast-charging locations with ChargePoint. Currently, it has 66 stations with 128 operational ports, 15 of which have a total of 30 NACS plugs. Rivian’s Adventure Network now totals 144 locations and 963 plugs, with 36 locations sharing 106 NACS ports. And Ford has the Ford Charge network, spread out at 370 Ford dealerships with a total of 1,346 plugs, all CCS.
Jonathan M. Gitlin Automotive Editor
Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica’s automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC.
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Arstechnica.com