Electrify America is a spin-off initiative that came out of VW’s ’emissionsgate’ settlement, according to TreeHugger. It began in September 2015, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to German automaker Volkswagen Group.
Under the EPA decree, Volkswagen agreed to spend $2 billion over 10 years to build a nationwide charging network for electric cars. In April 2018, Digital Journal reported that the initiative had started out with a bang, with the announcement of the selection of four suppliers to build 4 different charging stations for its massive electric vehicle charging network to be deployed in the US over the next few years.
The suppliers include ABB, BTC Power, Efacec, and Signet. Each of these companies is already well-known as hardware suppliers for existing EV charging networks. Electrify America will install 2,000 additional fast-charging stations at 484 locations across the country as part of the agreement.
All fast chargers in the network will have both CHAdeMO and CCS Combo plugs, so any fast-charge-capable electric car can use them. Teslas can connect to the CHAdeMO plugs with an adapter.
California’s first 350-kW charging station
The Electrify America EV charging station is located at San Francisco Premium Outlets, a mall operated by EA partner Simon, its new bank of 10 chargers lives alongside 20 Tesla Superchargers. Now, that’s a whole lot of power in one place.
Of the 10 chargers, eight will operate at 150 kW, which is about the same power level as Tesla’s Superchargers. This means they can top off a 100-kWh battery in about an hour. The two remaining chargers pack 350-kW charging speeds. So at 350 kW, EVs can pick up about 200 miles of range in about 10 minutes.
In May, Volkswagen announced their partnership with Simon Properties to install charging stations across the country. This is the same kind of partnership Volkswagen has with Walmart and other groups to get EV charging stations set up. Simon properties in California are set to receive 95 more chargers across 17 additional locations.
