The Weekly 1.21 (EVI News #8): NEVI Sites Outperform Industry. GSA Turns Anti-EV. Electric Buses Advance.

Good day, fellow peruser of PlugShare 📍🧐

We’re a couple of months into this digest — aka “The Weekly 1.21 ⚡” from here on out — and enjoy bringing you the latest EVI developments from across the continent every week.

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All done? Okay, here’s what we’ve seen in North American EV infrastructure this week ⤵️

NEVI Sites Outperform Most Industry Reliability Rates

News - Over the first two months of 2025, the 50+ charging stations funded by the National Electic Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program posted superior port uptime compared to most existing EV charging stations with a nationwide presence.

Numbers - Our tracking shows average port availability in February across 57 sites was 97%, with a similar figure (97.1%) in January across the sites open at that time. Better yet, 74% of sites open in February posted port availability at 99% or higher. Only a small number of sites recorded extended outages for one dispenser, while entire site outages were almost non-existent. Where a site outage occurred, most likely due to adverse weather conditions, at least one dispenser was available within 24 hours.

Nuance - A small handful of NEVI stations with extended single dispenser outages drag down the overall number. Three locations in Hawai’i, Ohio, and Rhode Island recorded uptime in the 55%-66% range. Without these stations, uptime across the NEVI locations jumps above 99%. Jumping to reliability metrics from EV analytics firm Paren, NEVI locations are tracking 10+ points better than non-NEVI stations.

Next Up - In an ideal world we would start to see official reliability metrics from EV-ChART via the Joint Office of Energy & Transportation, but the chaos of recent layoffs is likely to hinder this reporting, as well as many other valuable projects the Joint Office was working on. In the interim, Paren has developed a NEVI Reliability Index (NRX) that will continue to measure site reliability against the wider industry it also tracks.

Charging Vendor Spotlight: iONNA

News - After entering its “national release” phase - and backed by eight automotive OEMs with deep pockets - iONNA is showing signs of quickly living up to its nationwide network ambitions. New sites are announced every week or two and a cross-country route along I-70 is already starting to take shape, with proposed sites in Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri.

Numbers - Six stations with 58 ports across five states, entering March. The real promise, of course, lies in the network’s ambitious numbers for the year and second half of the decade. 1,000 charging bays in 2025 should shake out to around 100 stations, while 30,000 bays by 2030 is the long-term goal.

Nuance - For better or worse (mostly the former), this is a network doing things differently. Multiple partnerships, site designs, brand decisions, and pricing approaches are being piloted early on to see what resonates most with EV drivers. iONNA also appears committed to serving everyone. A test event at the network’s pilot site in Apex, NC, yielded 4,400 charging sessions across 80+ different all-electric models, delivering close to 63,000 kWh to uncover the ins and outs of serving an increasingly diverse North American EV population.

Next Up - A NEVI award confirms iONNA’s upcoming presence in western Colorado, while site permits revealed upcoming locations in Texas, New Hampshire, Arizona, and Virginia. The company itself has shared a new location in Missouri and another in Kansas this past week, building on what appears to be a cross-country route focused on I-70. Expect to see confirmed locations in California (Blythe?), Nevada, Utah, Illinois, and Indiana before the end of Q2, if this is one of iONNA’s goals in 2025.

AC/DC: GSA’s Anti-EV Stance Could Cost $100M

News: The General Services Administration (GSA) is set to decommission EV charging hardware and electric fleet vehicles, many procured within the past few years and with a long service life ahead of them. The move is estimated to waste between $50-100M, given the vehicles and hardware are already in service and require labor to be removed.

Numbers: Only 6% of the 2,226 charge ports under threat are DC fast chargers, making the GSA’s move a very destination charging-focused cut. In addition to the operational cost of decommissioning stations, replacing the electric vehicles already purchased carries a price tag of ~$700 million, according to a former GSA official speaking to EE News.

Nuance: Of the 654 stations in question, less than 6% are stations open to the public, meaning the impact on the overall charging landscape is negligible. Many serve national parks, lakeshores, and forests, such as Shenandoah in Virginia and Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan. Bringing back tailpipe emissions to vehicles serving these sensitive environments sits at odds with the GSA’s stance that EV charging is “not mission-critical.”  

Next Up: If the GSA follows through, watch for the final price tag. Compared to a more surgical approach of retaining the charging hardware where utilization and TCO analysis justifies it, plus setting up fees to recoup the cost of installing them, the sledgehammer approach of total removal is likely to rack up a large and wasteful bill.

On the Road: This Week in DCFC

News - The Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) continues to see a trickle of additions this week, though some notable ongoing absences, including Tesla, mean that we know data is incomplete. In addition to overall numbers, we’ll continue to add notable openings flagged from other sources to keep this section complete.

Numbers - 50 new fast charging stations across the United States and Canada were added to AFDC listings this week. The North American station count hit passed 14,500 at the end of the week, although only four stations were recorded in Canada.

Notable Locations Added to AFDC:

⚡ Pilot-Flying J added another NEVI-funded station, but this time not in Ohio. Pennsylvania is the focus for a third week, with a new site in New Milford, PA the network’s first in the state and eighteenth NEVI activation overall, with the majority so far in Ohio. A non-NEVI site also opened in Wood River, NE adding another I-80 travel option.

🟦 BC Hydro continued its sterling work on Canada’s west coast, opening two new EV fast-charging hubs in partnership with TransLink. The DCFC locations are hosted by Lower Mainland Park in South Surrey and Rides, in Port Coquitlam.

📍 More new NEVI map pins as the month came to a close, with a new Tesla Supercharger in Kit Carson, CO, serving the state’s lesser traveled southeastern section, and an important new Rocky Mountian Power site, in conjunction with Electrify America, at Ivie Creek Rest Area serving I-70 EV travelers. 62 NEVI sites open as we enter March…

🔵 BP caught negative attention for dialing back its investment in sustainable transportation, but bp pulse continues to provide positive news for North American EV charging. New 12-stall stations at TravelCenters of America in Elkton, MD and Richmond Hill, GA were activated on the final day of February, adding to the momentum of the brand’s network expansion across the US. More on that in the video update below.

🐟 A scenic waterside spot to charge was opened by Electric Circuit in Quebec this week, with three new 180kW dispensers serving visitors in Carleton-sur-mer. The site host is a seafood restaurant, making for a potentially tasty charge session if you’re heading along Rt. 132 in the east of the province.

 🔷 EVgo added two new stations at either end of California, with eight stalls up in Sacramento at the Arden Square Market Fair, and another six at Chase Bank down in Santa Barbara. Both sites deploy new hardware from Delta Electronics, capable of up to 350kW for a single EV or power sharing across two handles for simultaneous charging.

Unfortunately, with AFDC updates in question, the weekly video digests of new fast-charging locations from The Network Architect Channel on YouTube are now paused. Hopefully, earlier DCFC updates like this one can return if alternative arrangements are made to keep track of new stations.

Pricing

Pricing experimentation continues to shift our pricing index of 300+ representative DC fst charging sites across the United States. First, it was iONNA and ROVE cutting prices by 30-40% at select sites. Then Rivian went the other way

This week, Mercedes-Benz is making changes to its High-Power Charging (MB-HPC) network, pushing down the rate at newer locations to net $0.40/kwh (after local taxes and fees, which is a whole ‘nother ball of yarn to tug at…).

MB-HPC is promoting this as “Welcome Pricing”, which aligns with the temporary terminology of pricing “tests” we’ve been observing over the past few months. H

For a look at the MB-HPC charging experience as a whole (filmed pre-price cuts), check out the video below from The Average EV channel, visiting the One Loundoun site in Virginia:

Pricing at NEVI sites remained at $0.51 per kWh on average but new additions tellingly offset each other, with entries at the more expensive and affordable ends of the price spectrum.

On the cheaper side, new stations from Rocky Mountain Power ($0.40 per kWh) and Tesla (#0.46 per kWh) reflect good value at these federally funded sites. On the pricey side, additions from Pilot-Flying J ($0.63 per kWh) and Francis Energy ($0.62 per kWh) both sit the wrong side of sixty cents, from the customer’s point of view.

On the other hand, at $0.52 per kWh the recently activated Pilot NEVI site in Skippers, VA does at least sit right at the current national average for our index.

In terms of regional averages, the Southeast got even more afforable with an average of $0.49 per kWh, while the West Coast maintains it position as the most expensive region to DC fast charge, with an average price of $0.55 per kWh.

Note: An index for Canadian stations is in progress! Look for that to debut in a digest soon.

Policy: Fed Funding Freezes Start to Thaw, Including Electric School Buses

News - On February 25, obligated EPA climate grants including the Clean School Bus Program were unfrozen, following January’s executive orders that paused all kinds of federal funding across the United States.

Numbers - Three rounds of CSB funding with awards totaling $2.78 billion, across 1,344 school districts in every state.

Nuance - Electrification of school transportation emphasizes just how divided the political landscape has become when it comes to electric vehicles (and, well, everything). With funding in every state and school districts of all types, from rural communities to cities and suburbs, CSB funds cross partisan lines and deliver air quality improvements where they are most beneficial, eliminating local tailpipe emissions around young lungs. If consensus can’t be reached on replacing aging combustion vehicles with clean new school transportation that could eventually benefit the grid with V2X solutions, the road to electrification becomes a long and unnecessarily arduous one.

Next Up - Freeing up CSB funds will allow school districts that were expecting awards to move forward with their projects, including local charging stations for their new electric buses. It won’t always be straightforward, as the next section exemplifies, but when politicians like Shelley Moore Capito (R) in West Virginia are part of the push to unfreeze programs like this, it feels like there’s a chance to make progress.

Fleet Focus: Camber Electrifies Austin Bus Depot

News - Turnkey fleet electrification provider Camber deployed EV charging systems at the central bus depot in Austin, TX.

Numbers - 2.9 MW of power on tap across 48 industrial Camber fleet charging dispensers, eventually set to power almost 200 electric buses ordered by the city in 2021.

Nuance - The city’s electrification of its bus fleet hasn’t been plain sailing, as some of the 197 buses it bought for $255 million four years ago were ordered from Proterra. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2023, leaving the early electric fleet additions sidelined awaiting further technical support from Proterra’s new owners.

Next Up - The addition of robust charging systems marks a critical step on the path to electrifying Austin’s public transit. Now, attention shifts to the bus fleet itself and how the city can pivot to new providers that emerge from Proterra’s troubles. Expect a phased approach, with a small number of electric buses hitting the roads to test systems and troubleshoot any bugs that arise, before a wider rollout of BEV buses.

For Your Listening Pleasure

Every edition, we recommend one of the best listens on electrification, energy, or something similarly EV-related. In keeping with the “NEVI was working” undercurrent of this edition, this week we have expert analyst Loren McDonald joining the Grid Connections podcast to unpack EV adoption, NEVI funding, and wider EV charging.

🎧Loren McDonald on NEVI and the Future of EV Charging in North America🔌

Podcast host Chase has been doing an excellent job expanding coverage this year, with recent guests covering everything from China’s EV dominance to battery technology and off-grid charging. Check out those episodes and leave a review if you like what you hear.

💯 That’s us all charged up on EVI developments for another week.

If you found this digest valuable, pass it on to a friend, prospective EV owner, or a colleague in the industry.

And remember, it’s not range anxiety if you’re in a state that is pushing ahead with a well-developed EV infrastructure plan 📍🛣️

Cheers,

Steve / Plug & Play EV

Essential EV Follow - Mike Murphy