The Weekly 1.21⚡(EVI News #27) - AC in BC: 1,000+ New Ports. NEVI Reset. Fleet Charging for SeaTac. DCFC Discounts.

Good day, fellow follower of electrification ⚡👀

Returned and rested from a long holiday weekend on the road, this week’s edition is back on schedule and bursting with infrastructure developments. We’ll also be hopping across the pond this month, so if you see the occasional image or comparison to UK infrastructure over coming editions, you’ll know why!

Here’s a rundown of relevant EVI happenings across North America this week ⤵️

📢 NEVI Reset Sets Stage for Divided Charger Expansion

News - As a district court ruling goes unappealed at the federal level, states motivated to continue enacting their plans under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program have a clearer path forward. Those facing a misalignment with federal policies designed to hinder EV growth have paused their buildout and may not resume, leaving gaps in charger expansion and limiting NEVI to a patchwork of regional results, rather than the nationwide benefit that the program was originally designed to deliver.

Numbers - 14 states that sued the FHWA for its February pause on NEVI funding have potentially freed up some $875M, that they successfully argued would meaningfully harm state plans for infrastructure development if the hold continued. Three other plaintiff states were involved but need to provide further evidence to secure their funds.

Nuance - While only one-third of active participant states were involved in the seemingly successful legal action, several more could join them in reigniting NEVI activity. Minnesota, Vermont, and the District of Columbia (termed a state, for this program) still need to provide additional evidence of harm to restore their funding, while like-minded states not involved in the lawsuit, such as Massachusetts, Maine, and Connecticut, will now see a path forward for their NEVI plans.

Next Up - What this latest development cannot fix is backstage political influence and states that failed to progress their NEVI plans, even in a federal policy environment supportive of transportation electrification. Expect limited fast charging infrastructure growth across the Great Plains region and some central states, as a result. Early leaders like Ohio could also stall out, just as neighbors like Pennsylvania accelerate charger expansion. Most interesting to watch will be Texas, which is aligned with current federal policy on many levels but also leads on electrification initiatives, including NEVI, solar generation, and battery energy storage systems.

🔍 Charging Vendor Spotlight: Electric Circuit

News - Bienvenue, tout les mondes. As the network unveils Autocharge functionality for customers, I think it’s high time we spotlight Canada’s Electric Circuit — or, more elegantly in Québec, Le Circuit électrique — in this part of the newsletter.

Numbers - 1,112 DC fast charging ports at 472 locations in two provinces (primarily Québec, as well as eastern Ontario).

Nuance - This is one of North America’s first modern EV charging networks. Born of Hydro-Québec’s vision to decarbonize transportation, Electric Circuit launched in the spring of 2012, at a time when only around 600 electric vehicles were registered in the province. Today, the network features thousands of fast-charging ports ranging from 50kW to 350kW.

Next Up - At the opening of the network’s 1,000th station last year, Head of Electric Circuit France Lampron offered an update on the next phase of expansion: “we are pursuing our ambitious goal of installing 2,530 fast-charge stations by 2030 to support the transition toward more sustainable mobility." Drive an EV anywhere in Québec and you’re likely to encounter one of those stations.

🔌 AC/DC: Elocity Adds Thousands of L2 for Residents in British Columbia Complex

News: A 12-tower residential complex at the Richmond Centre retail location in British Columbia has deployed thousands of smart chargers for residents. The project is supported by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and represents one of the largest deployments of destination charging in North America to date.

Numbers: 1,212 new AC ports added by Canadian charging firm Elocity. That’s one for every residential bay and more than 30% of Richmond Centre’s total parking capacity that will be electrified by this project.

Nuance: Last week’s edition featured Woodland Creek in California, which added AC smart outlets for every residence. BC’s Richmond Centre takes that concept and amplifies it 13x, breaking into four figures and bringing charging to every residential parking space.

Next Up: We’re starting to see projects that truly embrace the value and required scale of destination charging. Unlocking home/workplace L2 is the single most important part of the charging infrastructure equation, as EV drivers benefit most when they charge where they park. What we need to watch now is utilization at these locations. How tangible will the benefits be, not just for EV drivers, but the property owners investing in L2?

🛣️ On the Road: This Week in DCFC

News - A busy week after the holiday weekend, thanks to a mix of activity on the ground and CPOs either side of the border catching up on some data entry. Together, Tesla and Electric Circuit account for more than three-quarters of this week’s records.

Numbers - 515 DC charging ports at 83 charging locations added to AFDC this week.

Notable New Stations + AFDC Additions:

🌊 This week’s spotlight vendor, Electric Circuit, updated a wave of stations at BRCC locations across Quebec. While many appear to be listings revisions, rather than an opening spree, it’s worth highlighting the role that the network has played in Canadian EV adoption for more than a decade. Site upgrades to locations like the BRCC Papineauville, on the busy route 50 between Ottawa and Montréal, are also underway this summer.

🍁 FLO energized three new stations, all in Ontario, with three ports in Ottawa and another three across two locations in the City of Port Colborne and Kingston, ON.

🔴 In addition to the wonderful “work in progress” Lost Hills Supercharger, which you can tour at the end of this email thanks to Tollak of the Chargepozitive channel, Tesla had a typically strong week of Supercharger deployments. New locations in eight states and one province yielded precisely 200 new charging stalls, from a rare four-stall Supercharger in remote McCall, ID to a 32-stall site in Lawnside, NJ. The latter is one of the locations added as an alternative for travelers on the New Jersey Turnpike, where Superchargers were removed last month to make way for Applegreen Electric (video below).

 🤠 iONNA opened its 20th network location in Plano, TX. Texas is now on an equal footing with Ohio, at least in iONNA terms, with five stations in each state. It also continues the surge of the “Texas Triangle” as a hive of DCFC activity, with Mercedes-Benz HPC, Walmart Energy, and now the gang of eight merry OEMs building between D-FW, Houston, and the Austin/San Antonio areas.

⚡ EVgo added 10 new stalls with two station activations, one on each coast. The Safeway in Santa Rosa, CA gets four new charging spots, while an Albertsons store not far from us in Burlington, MA gets six. Both are grocery stores with a mix of 100kW and 350kW units.

🏔️ A new ReVision Energy station in Greenville, ME opens up the remote Moosehead Lake region for intrepid EV travelers. Two 180kW ABB Terra units, with dual CCS1 + NACS/J3400 handles on each, are now live at Indian Hill Trading Post, funded via the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan and the New England Clean Energy Connect project to bring tourism to the area. We hope to be up there in August to take a look 👀

🟢 Electrify America spiked its station and stall count this week after a relatively quiet June, with 26 stalls across four new stations in as many states. Sites in Dover, DE, Columbus, OH, and Myrtle Beach, SC all feature the now common six-stall arrangement. The fourth site, energized in Michigan, adds eight stalls at a Target store in Ann Arbor.

⭕ Red-E Charging added a dealership DCFC hattrick across three states, with six stalls at Ford dealers in Connecticut and North Dakota, plus another two with Buick in Michigan.

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.

💲July 4th Discounts & the Wild West of DCFC Pricing

News - As we explored in edition 26, average US rates for DCFC rose this month compared to June. Thankfully, the July 4th holiday weekend delivered discounts that emphasize the broad spectrum of fast charging prices across the county’s major networks.

Numbers - $0.25 per kWh from Mercedes-Benz HPC was the lowest standard rate for DC charging we came across over the holiday weekend. iONNA cut less but ran longer, with a network-wide $0.34 per kWh that runs until today (regular prices resume 7/14/25). Compared to the increased national average of $0.54 per kWh in our DCFC pricing index, these discounts represent savings of $15-$20 per session for standard EV packs, or up to $30 per session for electric trucks and long range EVs.

Nuance - As our 1,500+ mile holiday trip using multiple vendors across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic demonstrates, this is very much a Wild West phase for DCFC prices. Broader energy costs are increasing, pushing up regular prices, but new charging vendors are simultaneously trying to raise awareness and increase utilization at newly launched sites. Holiday discounts are undeniably a welcoming way to attract attention, but customer retention hinges on consistent delivery of memorable experiences that make electric road trips easier than the competition.

Next Up - With the early holiday weekends behind us, attention returns to less fleeting pricing strategies. Throughout the summer, we’ll use this section of the digest to distinguish between the impact of these approaches, including time-of-use rates, congestion fees, member discounts, loyalty programs, and dynamic pricing.

🚛 Fleet Focus: Zeem Solutions Plans Charging Hub for SeaTac Area Electric Trucks and Delivery Vehicles

News - California-based Zeem Solutions will expand its electric fleet services to the upper end of I-5, with a new SeaTac-area charging facility aiming to serve the full range of electric fleet vehicles.

Numbers - Six DCFC stalls with power delivery up to 400kW will initially be energized by Zeem, with expansion plans to deliver charge sessions for up to 250 vehicles per day. The facility will also provide overnight parking capacity for up to 70 fleet vehicles.

Nuance - A grant of just over $5M from the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) will be used by six local fleet operators to assist the purchase of Class 8 electric drayage trucks. Zeem’s hub will enable local truck fleet operators to provide zero-emission freight deliveries and shift containers from the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma to inland warehouses.

Next Up - The incentives are part of Washington State DOT’s Port Electrification Program, which allocates $26.5M across 11 ports in the state to stimulate economic activity and improve air quality for both port workers and nearby residents. Work on grant-winning projects begins this summer, with some completions anticipated by the end of the year.

🎧 For Your Listening Pleasure

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

This week’s offering takes us back to Chase Drum’s Grid Connections podcast, with insights from the utility side via Dawn Neville from PSEG.

🎧 How PSEG will power New Jersey’s electrified future w/ Dawn Neville 💡🔌

Serving New Jersey, Neville sees various angles of the electrification puzzle. From fleets at the new EV Edison facility to bringing home charging to multi-family residential complexes and the stumbling blocks of innovating with bidirectional energy, there’s plenty to get your teeth into with this latest episode of Grid Connections.

🔋💯 Topping Off…

Here’s a selection of news items we couldn’t squeeze into other sections, followed by select EVI incentive program updates we think you’ll want to know about:

NY state awards $3M for EV-grid integration projects, makes $4M available for managed EV charging solutions

Mercedes-Benz HPC partners with Federal Realty to deploy stations in 4 states

EVerged partners with AMPECO for a 5,000-charger North American rollout

Federal Transit Administration Low/No Emission Bus grant program NOFO - Deadline: Monday July 14th, 2025

The application period for California’s FCCP incentives program has been pushed back from a July to August open date (window: 8/5/25 to 10/29/25)

CEC’s Communities In Charge wave 4 funding for L2 connectors ($8,500 per plug - up to 40) coming soon (window opens August 5th, 2025)

If you found this edition useful, do us a fav and pass it on to a friend, colleague, or family member to share the information.

See you next week, and remember, if Walmart and Costco know EV charging attracts new customers, there’s a good chance you should consider it for your retail business 🛒🔋🤑

Cheers,

Steve / Plug & Play EV

🔔 Essential Energy/EV Follow - Doug Lewin

📍 Charging Site of the Week: Lost Hills Tesla Supercharger (California)