Ionna
Ionna is a high-power charging station network for electric vehicles to facilitate long-distance travel across North America. With a concept to put its locations along highways it is similar to the Ionity network in Europe.[2][note 2]
| Company type | Joint venture |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive infrastructure |
| Founded | February 9, 2024 [note 1] |
| Headquarters | Torrance CA , USA |
Area served | North America |
Key people | Seth Cutler[1] |
| Products | Automotive industry |
| Owners | BMW Group, Mercedes-Benz Group, General Motors, Stellantis, Hyundai Motor Group, Honda Group, Kia Group |
| Website | ionna |
History edit
The American government recognized that a key element in expanding electromobility is the establishment of public charging points. From 2022 it started to fund the construction of fast charging stations ($7.5 billion for 500,000 charging points).[3] Tesla responded to this in advance and began opening its superchargers to third-party brands in 2021 . They also made their previously proprietary charging plug available for standardization under the name North American Charging Standard (NACS).
After opening, the Tesla Superchargers developed a dominant position in fast charging. In addition to the number of charging points, availability,[note 3] the ease of activation also played a role.[note 4] In mid-2023, many manufacturers began licensing Tesla's technology and the access to Tesla's Supercharger network - at which point the ratio of NACS to CCS charging points in North America's fast charging landscape was already 60 to 40 percent.[4] The Volkswagen Group, as the main shareholder of Electrify America, also announced that its vehicles will have access to superchargers from 2025.[5][note 5]
In this market environment, Mercedes, BMW, GM, Stellantis, as well as Honda, Hyundai and Kia announced in July 2023 that they would combine their plans in order to build an independent network of HPC fast charging stations in North America. In February 2024, the IONNA LLC company began operations of the network under the name Ionna. The goal is to set up 30,000 HPC charging points.[6][7][1] For comparison, there were 12,000 charging points in operation at Tesla and 4,000 at Electrify America at that time.
Charging stations edit
The Ionity charging stations have been designed from the beginning to allow for at least 350 kW at 800 Volt output (with a 500 A liquid-cooled cable). In contrast, even the Supercharger V4 had problems delivering 800 V for the new Cybertruck in 2023.[8][9]
References edit
- ^ a b "High-Powered EV Charging Network, IONNA, Begins Operations in North America". Ionna LLC. 2024-02-24.
- ^ Sam Abuelsamid (2024-02-09). "Automaker EV Charging Network Branded Ionna, Seth Cutler Named CEO". Forbes.
Several of the members of this group are already part of a similar joint venture in Europe called Ionity that has been operational for several years
- ^ Iris Martinz. "Weißes Haus stellt Plan zum Ausbau des E-Ladenetzes vor" (in German). Elektroauto News.
- ^ Michael Neißendorfer. "General Motors bindet Tesla Supercharger ein und setzt auf NACS statt CCS" (in German). Elektroauto News.
- ^ "Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and Scout Motors brands to implement the North American Charging Standard in future electric vehicles". Volkswagen AG. 2023-12-19. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
- ^ Sebastian Schaal (2024-02-12). "Autobauer-Allianz bringt US-Ladenetz als Ionna an den Start". Electrive.net.
- ^ Luca Leicht (2023-07-27). "Mehr als doppelt so viele Schnelllader wie Tesla". auto-motor-sport.
- ^ Fred Lambert (2023-11-30). "Tesla's charging network is not ready for Cybertruck". Electrek.
- ^ Daniel Zlatev (2023-12-02). "Cybertruck charge time is 20 minutes at 350kW V4 Supercharger as Tesla splits the battery in 400V units" (in German). NotebookCheck.
Notes:
- ^ The company register in Oregon shows a foundation in December 2005.[1] The shell corporation was probably bought between July and February. The 9th of February points to the allowance for operation as a charging network.
- ^ Mercedes, BMW and Hyundai are also founding members of Ionity
- ^ availability over 99% and defunct charging points were shown correctly in the app
- ^ specifically the charging cards were failing often
- ^ the Electrify America charging sites are usually located on mall areas in the suburbs