Recharging America: One step forward, one step back

It is said that 'unity is strength'. An adage embraced by eight major automotive groups who have set themselves the goal of creating a vast and welcoming charging network across North America. They are Stellantis, BMW, General Motors, Kia, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes and Toyota, who are officially launching Ionna, an overseas battery recharging consortium.

The initiative was announced a year ago, but is now completing its field tests and finally coming into its own. To give you an idea, it is a project similar to Ionity, a European operator that is the result of a collaboration between several car manufacturers, including BMW, Hyundai, Kia and Mercedes itself.

Target: 30,000 stations in 2030

Ionity currently has six charging stations with 58 columns, but aims to open more than 100 sites with more than 1,000 electric car points this year. The ultimate goal is to have 30,000 points across the New Continent by 2030.

"We are fierce competitors, but we are united on a common interest and goal and are aligned on the kind of experience we want for our customers," comments Orth Hedrick, executive director of car product management at Kia and member of the Ionna board.

Headwinds

At the same time, however, the newly installed Trump administration is withdrawing incentives for the installation of charging stations. This is stated in black and white in a letter from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to state departments of transportation entitled "Suspension of Approval of State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plans".

The incentives were launched by former President Biden with a plan called 'National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI)', which set aside $5 billion, of which $3.3 billion has already been allocated. However, it appears that funds already paid out cannot be withdrawn, but further clarification is awaited.

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