If you’re just learning the ways of electric-car ownership, the more charging-station locations, the better. And Electrify America appears on its way to catch up with Tesla’s Supercharger network in that metric.
Electrify America announced Monday that it will be opening its 400th charging station location this week. All of its locations can deliver a maximum of at least 150 kw (CCS)—350 kw at many locations, which is more than Tesla’s latest V3 Supercharger standard and good for up to 20 miles per minute. Plus it’s nationwide, and the closest network rival to Tesla Supercharging so far.
Electrify America reaches 400 fast-charging locations
In terms of locations, it’s not exactly close, but it’s made shocking progress in 20 months versus Tesla’s eight years. The U.S. Alternative Fuels Data Center, which still lists Electrify America as having 398 stations, lists Tesla as having 756 stations—although Tesla, at 7,264 charging connectors, far outnumbers EA at 1,776 connectors.
Electrify America, which was established under a provision of the Volkswagen diesel settlement, says that 96 percent of Americans live within 120 miles of one of its chargers. And that’s before the 100 stations that are permitted and another 150 in the development stages.
The company says it hopes to be at 800 fast-charging stations by December 2021, so if it keeps the pace up, it could potentially pass Tesla, in that all-important location total, in the not-too-distant future.
