A plan for a continental electric vehicle charging network is bringing together big names like it’s a Team USA basketball roster.
What happened: Toyota joined automakers including Honda, Stellantis, and GM in backing Ionna, a joint venture building a high-powered North American EV charging network. Ionna aims to install ~30,000 ports across the continent by 2030, starting with the U.S. and then Canada.
Big picture: Ionna stations will include both types of major charging ports: Combined Charging System (CCS) ports and Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) ports.
- The two different standards were pitted against each other, but now seem to be at peace after the automakers backing Ionna all agreed to adopt NACS in addition to CCS starting with 2025 models. Tesla in turn has expanded CCS adapters for its vehicles.
Why it matters: EV prices were down 17.6% annually last year, leaving range anxiety as a top issue preventing drivers from doing the electric slide. Increasing charging accessibility — especially in dense urban areas, off of major highways, and along popular vacation routes — could stoke adoption.
In Canada: Range anxiety is a rational fear. Transport Canada projects Canada will need 460,000 chargers by 2030 to meet demand, up from the ~27,200 currently in place.—QH