Electrify America on Tuesday announced that it has raised $450 million, marking its first expansion beyond the charging network's original funding plan.
The total includes a "low triple-digit" amount from German conglomerate Siemens, Electrify America said in a press release. The investment gives Siemens a seat on Electrify America's board.
Siemens is the first external investor in Electrify America, which was created with a $2 billion funding commitment from the Volkswagen Group as part of the automaker's diesel-emissions cheating settlement with the federal government. Electrify America started drawing up its $2 billion plan in 2016, and VW's investment commitment is set to run through 2026.
Electrify America Jeep 4xe Charging Network
Electrify America initially focused on road-trip DC fast charging, completing its first cross-country route in 2020. It's also supplemented the road-trip-oriented network with some urban charging in the interim. The company says it currently has 758 charging sites in the United States, with another 76 scheduled to open soon. It also claims to have 3,010 individual DC fast chargers, plus 116 Level 2 AC connectors.
We first heard reports of Electrify America looking for outside investors last summer, in a bid to scale up. Shortly after, it announced a plan to double the network by 2025, with an expansion into the upper Midwest. The company now says it will use new investments for that expansion. This isn't the only recent EV-related investment for Siemens, either; the company earlier this month invested in wireless charging tech.
The Electrify America network developed rapidly under VW, but is outside investment the first step toward making it a viable long-term rival to Tesla's network? We'll have to wait and see.
