Slowly but surely, it is getting easier to drive electric in the U.S.
With range anxiety still a thing among the uninitiated (that’s most of the U.S. car-buying population and virtually all new-car dealerships), it’s good news to hear that Electrify America plans to double its DC fast-charge infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada by 2025.
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The non-profit EV infrastructure provider said it will be deploying 150-and 350 kilowatt chargers in about 900 new locations, with multiple charging stations at each location.
Presently, Electrify America is on schedule to have fast charging stations in 800 locations, with about 3,500 individual chargers, by the end of the year.
The 2025 goal is to have “more than 1,700” stations and 9,500 chargers.
Fast charging makes it easier to travel long distances in EVs because the stations permit relatively speedy battery top ups hat won’t add too much time of a trip that exceeds an EVs range limits. It is not, however, intended for daily charging as the charging speed stresses batteries and overuse can impact battery longevity.
New chargers will be added in states already served by Electrify America as well as in the so-far unserved states of Hawaii, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming and Vermont. That will leave Alaska as the only state outside of the EA network.
For the Canadian market, where EA’s Electrify Canada unit presently has 32 stations, the plan calls for a total of 100-plus stations and 500 chargers by the end of 2025.
Location maps published by Electrify America show a proliferation of stations in the central U.S. and across the bottom of Canada, enabling cross-county travel along numerous routes.
Fast charging makes it easier to travel long distances in EVs because the stations permit relatively speedy battery top ups hat won’t add too much time of a trip that exceeds an EVs range limits. It is not, however, intended for daily charging as the charging speed stresses batteries and overuse can impact battery longevity.
Electrify America is one of several charging network providers – others with DC fast charging stations include Blink, ChargePoint, EVgo, and, of course, Tesla’s proprietary Supercharger network available only to Tesla vehicles.
Electrify America is owned by Volkswagen and was established as part of a settlement with U.S. regulators after VW was caught cheating on diesel emissions. In North America, it has a commitment to spend $2 billion or more on U.S. and Canadian charging infrastructure.