Look Out, Tesla: Ionna EV Charging Stations Are Here, and They're Good

Yahoo

28-03-2025

Ever since the debut of the first Tesla Supercharger station, non-Tesla EV drivers have wondered, "Why can't someone else do that?" Which is to say, why can't anyone else build DC fast-charge stations that are reliable and located in close proximity to civilization—restaurants, a downtown, or at least a convenience store? The general answer is that a quality EV charging network requires the backing of an organization that's well funded, organized, and motivated, and the non-Tesla charge ecosystem has always been a patchwork of half-interested dabblers slapping up fickle chargers in the trash-strewn corners of your local big-box parking lot. But I am pleased to say there is hope, for I have visited an Ionna charger, and it's everything that chargers should have been from the start.
Ionna is funded by eight automakers: BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Toyota. (Notably absent from that list is Volkswagen, which probably regards Electrify America as its court-ordered contribution to the cause.) The organization's goal is to build out a charge network to rival Tesla's, even while embracing Tesla's NACS plugs. That means fast, reliable charging, in appealing locations. I visited the first Ionna station, in Apex, North Carolina, and it's proof that Tesla isn't the only company that can figure out how to do this.
I arrived in a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, a fine candidate for a fast charge. The Apex Ionna is at a repurposed gas station a block from shops and restaurants downtown, and I initially pulled up to the wrong place. What I thought was a charger was in fact a windshield washer fluid dispenser mounted above an air compressor—what a great idea.
The chargers, which wear the same vaguely Gulf blue livery, are out back. They're handsome, with a vaguely retro design, four cords with NACS Tesla plugs, and six for the Hyundai's CCS format. All the chargers are 400 kW, and there's no proprietary app required. Swipe a card and you're in business. The greeting screen at the chargers advertised an introductory price of $0.48 per kWh, which equates to "somewhat less than you'd pay for gas for a given amount of mileage."
There's nothing much to say about the rest of the charge process, which is the best thing I can say about it. I watched the charge rate climb near 200 kW, and then I wandered off to explore the rest of the twee-ly named Rechargery.
There was a food truck parked outside and not yet open, but its proprietor soon arrived and opened the bakery and coffee shop inside. There's a lounge area with desks for working, bathrooms, and even two conference rooms that you can reserve and unlock via an app, if your grind mindset extends to business meetings while you charge. Nobody was using those, but a Polestar 2 driver walked in, saw the wall-mounted arcade console, and declared, "This is sick!" By the time I finished my coffee and a cinnamon roll, the 5 N was charged up and ready to go.
None of this was revolutionary, and yet it was. The first time I had to charge an electric car, a Nissan Leaf, I had to plug it into a wall outlet in a ground-level hotel room overnight. I've encountered more out-of-order chargers than I can remember, spent 24 hours on a Level 2 charger, and waited in line just to get a turn at a terrible charger in a desolate parking lot. The best experiences were always at Tesla Superchargers, and those were a walled garden of competence. But now Superchargers are available to non-Teslas, and Ionna's chargers are offering an even better product to anyone with an EV. There is competition in the realm of chargers, finally.
The Ionna in Apex shows what the future of charging can look like. Now all they have to do is build a few thousand more.
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