IONNA’s Rechargery EV charging stations are getting rave reviews

Don’t look now, but public EV charging in the US is becoming a lot more widely available, and a lot better. EV drivers are fed up with buggy and broken chargers, and dismal locations in sun-baked parking lots. Charging providers have got the message, and the forward-looking companies are raising their games.

One of these is IONNA, a joint venture supported by eight major automakers. The company has recently begun rolling out public charging stations it calls Rechargeries, which it promises will be reliable, well-designed and equipped with driver-friendly amenities.

Our colleague Chad Kirchner, Editor-in-Chief of Destination Charged, has seen it all, from early CHAdeMO chargers to Tesla Superchargers to Electrify America (“used to be excellent, but now isn’t”) to EVgo stations (“overpriced”). He recently visited one of IONNA’s new Rechargeries near Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and found a lot to like.

This Rechargery is a standalone location with a lounge. Others are located at convenience store/gas stations such as Sheetz or Wawa. For security reasons, the lounge can be accessed only while charging, using a smartphone app, and it’s open only from 7 am to 7 pm. It features “a conference-type table and chairs, and several comfy chairs and sofas.” Chad found vending machines, a clean bathroom and free WiFi.

One of the biggest beefs I have with public charging is the multiplicity of apps, which all work differently, and sometimes don’t work very well at all. I’m delighted to learn that IONNA lets you avoid apps altogether—you can simply pay at the pump with a credit card the way you would for any other service—or use any of several popular charging apps, including ChargePoint, MB.CHARGE, and the native apps of most of IONNA’s participating automakers. Chad used the FordPass app to charge his Mach-E.

This location has 6 chargers with 12 individual charging points featuring both CCS and NACS connectors, with capacities up to 400 kW. The stalls are all pull-through, so both front and back chargers, as well as trailer-pullers, can be easily accommodated. And yes, at least on Chad’s visit, the charger worked just fine. The graphic display shows enough detailed charging info to satisfy the most numerate charging nerds.

The location used to be an old CNG fueling station (a sign of changing times?), and it features a lighted canopy to banish the rain and the darkness, and even a squeegee or two to keep your windshield clean.

And the price? Chad paid an “introductory price” of $0.42 per kWh, quite affordable compared to typical pricing in the area. It remains to be seen how the pricing may vary over time, or across different regions.

Source: Destination Charged