This Gas Station Chain Will Get 1000 EV Chargers

Jay Ramey
·3 min read
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electrify america station
This Gas Station Chain Will Get 1000 EV ChargersElectrify America

  • Electrify America has partnered with TravelCenters of America Inc. to build approximately 1000 DC fast-chargers at 200 TA/Petro locations.

  • The stations, which will be built over the course of five years and will be maintained by Electrify America, will feature 350-kW DC fast-chargers.

  • VW's charging arm has been experimenting with new types of stations, including large hubs with up to 20 chargers, and battery energy storage systems (BESS).

The days of EV chargers being tucked away in poorly lit corners of dying suburban malls are slowly coming to an end, as several major station builders and operators are finally starting to focus on recreating the gas station experience, complete with a convenience store. This means EV chargers could be coming soon to a gas station near you.

This week Volkswagen's EV charging arm revealed it is teaming up with TravelCenters of America Inc. to build approximately 1000 DC fast-chargers at 200 TA/Petro locations along major highways. The chargers will deliver up to 350 kW, so thankfully these won't be the wobbly and sluggish grocery store-grade units many EV owners have become used to over the past decade. The math works out to five charge points per station, as you've probably noticed, but at the moment the companies aren't saying if some larger stations could see a higher numbers of stalls.

"TA's large locations with expansive amenities are attractive to EV motorists, and we are committed to expanding our EV charging infrastructure to accommodate this growing number of EV drivers over time," said Jon Pertchik, CEO of TravelCenters of America.

TravelCenter's network currently counts 287 gas stations, so a big chunk of the entire network will receive chargers. Electrify America will plan, install, and maintain the chargers, though EV owners will see charging stalls with the eTA logo. However, the entire charger installation project is expected to take five years, so these won't roll out all at once.

"Our combined strengths allow us to take bigger steps toward our shared vision of a more sustainable future," said Giovanni Palazzo, Electrify America's president and CEO.

EA's latest partnership with a gas station chain is still relatively rare in the industry, which is going through a rapid evolution and is trying to leave the bad old days of odd locations and non-working chargers in the past. At the moment, travel plazas with EV chargers of any sort are usually found along the I-5 corridor on the West Coast, and along I-95 on the East Coast, though finding a DC fast-charger at a gas station remains quite rare.

That's slowly changing as station builders focus on larger, gas station-style hubs with a dozen or more DC fast-chargers at each location. But it will still take many more years for such stations to become commonplace, even as the biggest station builders work to undo the early mistakes of the past decade.

Is the reliability and availability of EV chargers keeping you from considering an EV? Let us know in the comments below.