The Weekly 1.21⚡(EVI News #11): CPO Reliability Ranked. Revel Doubles JFK DCFC. Illinois HDEV Incentives.

Good day, fellow seeker of scenic charging spots 🌄🔌

Spring has officially sprung and it’s high time to shake off any remaining hibernation to set about building/using the EV charging stations that will set the standard for 2025 and beyond. As you’ll see in our first story, Consumer Reports contributors have thoughts on the charging vendors in full bloom and those wilting under the heat of increased use.

Quick note: if you see this as a forward/want your own copy, use the big green button below:

All set? In that case, let’s dive into the North American EVI headlines for this week ⤵️

📢 Consumer Reports Ranks CPO Reliability

News - A new CR survey of more than 1,200 EV drivers identifies the top performers and problematic providers of public charging in the U.S. over the past year.

Numbers - Unsurprisingly, EV-only automakers led the pack in satisfaction, with no issues reported at 96% (Tesla Superchargers) and 95% (Rivian Adventure Network) of driver sessions. At the other end of the scale, Shell Recharge gave customers the most trouble, with problems reported at 48% of charging attempts. EVgo (43%) and Blink Charging (41%) round out the bottom three performers.

Nuance - Overall, 21% of all charging sessions reported experienced some form of issue, ranging from laggy touch screens and short cables to payment failures and broken connectors. Unfortunately, the initial reporting doesn’t break out numbers by network and issues encountered. Short cables are primarily a Tesla challenge, for example, whereas payment issues are far less likely to impact Superchargers. While the survey provides interesting overall data points, the real value for the EV charging industry lies in separating reliability problems that impact individual providers from those that everyone needs to address.

Next Up - With more and more models able to access Superchargers in 2025, watch for any impact on future reliability at Tesla locations. The same applies to Rivian, albeit to a much smaller degree given the RAN footprint and limited opening to date. Newer players like iONNA, Mercedes-Benz HPC, and perhaps even Walmart Energy could also make a dent in reliability metrics as their networks expand across the country.

🔍 Charging Vendor Spotlight: Shell Recharge

News - The EV charging arm of oil and gas giant Shell has made inroads into North American DCFC with strategic acquisitions of first Greenlots in 2019, then Volta in 2023. In addition to its existing stations under Shell Recharge, this established the brand’s position as a mid-tier charging vendor across the United States and Canada.

Numbers - 673 ports at 304 DC charging stations, located across 34 states and four Canadian provinces. One-third of these fast charging locations fall into the category of former Volta stations, which typically cap out at 50kW power delivery.

Nuance - Shell’s build out in the US and Canada has been sporadic, with acquisitions providing sudden bursts of growth in an otherwise slow rollout of the Shell Recharge brand in North America. The first station under the brand opened at Boston’s Logan airport back in 2019 (see my early visit in a Bolt EV here) but relatively few new, “ground-up” Shell Recharge stations have been added in the five years since then.

Next Up - Shell Recharge has long held promise of significant DCFC expansion, given the fueling station footprint of its parent company, which crosses into tens of thousands of potential locations. A handful of NEVI awards in Texas, Tennessee, and DC are unlikely to move the needle this year, leaving future expansion down to how much investment Shell is willing to push in the direction of electrification, at a time when the political landscape incentivizes doubling down on fossil fuels.

🔌 AC/DC: California EVSE Milestone Highlights Different Levels of Charging

News: As the Golden State reaches one-quarter of new vehicle sales being electric models, state energy officials also confirm California now has more EV charging ports than “gas station nozzles”. The comparison raises more questions than it answers, however, highlighting the need for improved education around the different levels of EV charging.

Numbers: California Energy Commission (CEC) figures report 178,549 public L2 and DC charging stations in California, around 9.5% of which are DC fast chargers. The vast majority represent slower AC charging. Broken out that way, fast charging still significantly lags the 120,000 gas pumps, to which DCFC is most directly comparable.

Nuance: The distinction is important because it emphasizes the difference in “fueling” experience between electric vehicles and traditional combustion models. In the rush to build out DC charging networks, the importance of AC charging to EV ownership is easily overlooked. In reality, one of the most significant advantages of driving electric is being able to charge while the vehicle is inactive, which typically means at home, work, or other destinations with extended dwell time. Comparisons to gas stations are of limited value, as EV charging ports offer a different experience and vary widely in use case.

Next Up: If the (questionable) objective is to catch up to gas stations, California will be looking to reduce red tape around permitting and site construction. The previously reported CalEVIP fast charging program could be a good place to start, putting $55M in state funding on the table for DCFC stations that are "shovel-ready" later this year.

🛣️ On the Road: This Week in DCFC

News - Another relatively slow week for Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) listing additions, although there are some notable names and locations, as well as a healthy spread of states and provinces seeing new and upgraded fast charging stations.

Numbers - 126 fast charging ports at 51 charging stations added to AFDC listings this week across the United States and Canada.

Notable Locations Added to AFDC:

⚡ As speculated in last week’s edition, Walmart Energy debuted its first branded, non-beta fast charging site in McKinney, TX. The station features four Alpitronic 400kW units serving eight charging stalls, with CCS1 and J3400/NACS handles both available.

✈️ Revel continues its expansion of urban DCFC options by more than doubling EV charging capacity at JFK Airport in NYC. 24 Revel-branded Kempower dispensers have been added to Cell Phone Lot West, joining the existing EVolve NY station in the same location. Emphasizing the industry transition, handles are evenly split: 12 x CCS1, 12 x NACS/J3400.

🗝️ The Keystone State continued its streak of new NEVI activations, with Francis Energy busy in Pennsylvania again this week. Two new SK Signet 400kW dispensers will serve four stalls at the Kwik Fill in Kylertown, PA. This starts to fulfill the promise of federal funding electrifying a central stretch of I-80 that lacks DCFC coverage and redundancy.

🛍️ Mercedes-Benz HPC added another location to its growing network across the Southeastern US, this week in Gaffney, SC. Unlike many MB-HPC locations in the south, this station is not found at a Buc-ee’s, but instead leans into the network’s partnership with Simon Properties to bring five 400kW dispensers to Gaffney Outlet Marketplace.

🟢 ChargeSmart EV, previously covered in these pages for their rapid rollout of destination charging at hotels across New York state, added a new DCFC added a new DCFC station to the network. The station installed at Hollywood Dodge-Jeep-Chrysler in Florida features both AC and DC, with four fast charging ports and six L2 ports.

🍁 On the back of NS Power’s promising new fast charging network, Petro Canada’s site retrofits have also reached Nova Scotia. Two ChargePoint Express units replace aging hardware at the network’s Halifax DCFC location, delivering up to 200kW across four stalls.

📍 Flo Charging dominated Canadian listings this week, with 12 of the 15 locations added energized on the Flo network and covering four provinces. New sites in Ontario and Alberta are especially notable for deploying its newest hardware, the Flo Ultra unit.

🔷 bp pulse once again leaned into the Thornton's brand of gas stations for its addition this week, with a new six stall location in Riverview, FL.

To see how and where the leading charging vendors are expanding, check out The Network Architect Channel on YouTube for DCFC updates like this one.

💲Pricing for DC Fast Charging

News: Unchanged averages and low volatility across our index of 300+ US fast charging stations in the latest update, so let’s consider variations in pricing strategy while it’s quiet…

Numbers: Average nationwide price for DCFC sits at $0.52 per kWh, but that drops to $0.50 per kWh when lower time-of-use (TOU) rates are factored in. Only 10.3% of the stations in our index implement TOU pricing, which is primarily found at EVgo and Tesla Supercharger locations. Then there are preferential rates available via membership plans, which are offered by 13% of the vendors represented.

Nuance: These are averages for non-membership/off-plan rates which, like TOU rates, also skews pricing analysis. Tesla drivers pay significantly lower rates at Superchargers, for example, and non-Tesla users can access those prices by paying $12.99 for a monthly membership. Similarly, EVgo’s pricing becomes much more compelling on one of the network’s plans, which can bring rates down by around 30%.

Next Up: Over to you! What do you expect to see from the more competitive DC fast charging landscape as we head into Q2 and spring/summer travel? Will vendors follow the likes of Francis Energy and Rivian with rising rates, or do you expect downward pressure to continue from the likes of Tesla, MB-HPC, and newcomers like iONNA?

✒️ Policy: Pennsylvania Forges Ahead with NEVI Builds

News - Despite a widespread pause in federal funding and period of review for existing National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program rules, Pennsylvania continues to build and activate new fast charging station with its allocated federal funds.

Numbers - Pennsylvania has energized five NEVI stations so far this year, with four of them coming after the FHWA’s Feb. 6th memo pausing the program’s projects. Although the memo did permit existing obligations to be honored, some states (including NEVI leader Ohio) have slowed activity to await revised guidance from FHWA.

Nuance - Pennsylvania’s NEVI map shows no intention to slow down its deployment of federally funded stations. It is likely to adopt a more combative stance to any pullbacks than neighboring Ohio, which still has the most active NEVI locations but has been quieter on its future sites. “Pennsylvania continues to move quickly to invest in critical EV infrastructure,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll, several weeks after the FHWA memo.

Next Up - Expect to see a more pronounced division between the states forging ahead with their existing NEVI plans and those who take the FHWA pause as an opportunity to pull back altogether. Although this will lead to much more patchwork coverage than the original federal program intended, building out underserved stretches like Pennsylvania’s I-80 shows the value of fighting to push forward with existing obligations.

🚛 Fleet Focus: HDEV Incentives for Illinois

News - Illinois Environmental Protection Agency announced that it is accepting applications to help fund electric vehicles that will replace eligible diesel Class 4-8 medium- and heavy-duty freight trucks, as well as Class 8 port drayage trucks.

Numbers - Around 19% of an initial $108M from the Illinois portion of VW’s settlement is allocated for replacement of class 4-8 vehicles involved in local freight movements. This funding opportunity represents the state’s eight round under the program.

Nuance - Delivery vehicles and box trucks, waste haulers, landscape trucks, dump trucks, freight and transport trucks that operate in the Chicago area are eligible for funding. Charging equipment, where required, can also qualify for available funds.

Next Up - Review eligibility and start researching now, as applications are due by June 6th at 5PM (Central). Find funding opportunity details over on the Illinois EPA website.

🎧 For Your Listening Pleasure

In every edition, we recommend one of the best listens on electrification, energy, or something similarly EV-related.

🎧Hubject’s Nate Steele on the EVolution of Plug&Charge in North America🚘

Sticking close to home this week, this conversation with Nate Steele at Hubject offers a valuable primer into the current state of ISO15118 Plug&Charge in North America.

💻 WoW - Webinar of the Week

This week sees a lot of industry players heading to the EV Charging Summit & Expo (EVCS) in Las Vegas, NV, so traditional webinars are thin on the ground. With that in mind, a channel recommendation seems more appropriate, as Patrick and Liv at the Mach-E Vlog are heading to EVCS and always deliver the goods from live events like this.

Stay tuned to the channel or, if you’re there in person, be sure to catch Patrick’s sessions with AUTEL, Red-E Charging, and more over on the Podcast stage.

That’s a wrap on North American EV infrastructure for another week.

If you found the information in this edition valuable, please pass it on to a friend, prospective EV owner, or a colleague in the industry. And always hit reply if there’s something you’d like to see covered in future editions.

And remember, it’s not range anxiety if you can divert to slow roads for the final few miles of the journey… 🐌📈

Cheers,

Steve / Plug & Play EV

🔔 Essential EV Follow - Jaan Juurikas