Good day, fellow electric holiday reveler ⚡🎁

What do you know, we’re 50 editions in 🎉 — it’s really just another number, but this is an evolving resource and the final stretch of the year seems like an opportune moment to ask for feedback.

If there’s something you’d like to see this digest provide in 2026, send your suggestions my way over the holiday period.

Next weekend might be lighter, but the past week was as busy as ever, so here’s your full digest of EV infrastructure developments across Canada and the US ⤵️

News - Oklahoma-based Francis Energy is quietly making strategic adjustments ahead of 2026, with upgrades underway at the network’s core sites in its home state and hiring in line with nationwide expansion. Former Circle K Charge and Electric Era ops leader Lang Reynolds became the company’s new VP of Operations this week, while upgrades at a Francis site in Norman, OK, reveal a surprise “new” hardware provider: Tesla! Merry Christmas, Oklahoma EV drivers!

Numbers - 120 of the Francis fast-charging locations are in Oklahoma, representing two-thirds of the network. The remaining 61 locations are located outside of OK across 12 states, with many using SK Signet’s latest 400kW all-in-one dispenser to meet requirements of NEVI funding. Francis has 140 awards through the program to date, according to evstates.org.

Nuance - Presumably operating under the Supercharger for Business program, it appears that Francis Energy is the first nationwide CPO to turn to the industry leader for fast charging equipment. The existing sites are a mix of equipment dating back to the second wave of US DC fast charging (2018-2023), when reliability was still a major question mark hanging over the industry. Newer hardware and hindsight for operators has improved the situation dramatically, but Francis appears to be opting for one of the safest paths available by engaging Tesla to shore up its fast charging so close to home.

Next Up - The first upgraded Francis site is expected to go live in Norman, OK this month, while the Durant site (pictured above) is also in contention. Additional sites in Bartlesville, Jenks, Muskogee, and Tulsa have all been flagged for upgrades, which we’ll monitor for Supercharger sightings in the weeks and months to come.

News - Kwik Charge, the EV charging arm of the Great Lakes region’s favorite convenience retailer, Kwik Trip, will power up two new locations this week. Both Fond du Lac and Pewaukee are scheduled to go live in time for Christmas travel, bringing the brand’s DCFC footprint to 10 locations in Wisconsin, with new states to be added soon.

Numbers - Before these sites are energized, Kwik Charge has eight locations open, for a total of 24 charging stalls in its first active year. The latest sites will bring that up to 10 sites and 40 stalls this week, all offering CCS1 and NACS/J3400 connectors. This removes the need for adapters, unless the EV driver has a model with a CHAdeMO port.

Nuance - Holiday travel is a big focus at this time of year, so let’s go to the locals for the details on how Kwik Trip’s progress aids their travel plans. “Pewaukee is big because there aren’t a lot of good options between Milwaukee and Madison on I-94,” reports Jay Williams, host of the WisconsEV channel. He adds that the company made a similar move last month, opening its Lake Delton location in time for Thanksgiving travel (and beating IONNA to the punch, in doing so!)

Next Up - That’s the holiday season covered for Kwik Charge, but what about the New Year? More sites in more states. Jay also reports that five locations have SK Signet hardware in the ground, so activation isn’t far behind. Those are in Cameron, Hixton, Marinette, Plover, and Richfield, WI. And expansion doesn’t stop there. North Branch, MN, could see the first Kwik Charge energized outside of Wisconsin, and possibly Minnesota’s first NEVI site. Iowa is also on the map (at “Kwik Star”-branded locations).

News: Connecticut-based LAZ Parking shared an investment in Epic Charging that aims to bring destination charging to approximately 3% of LAZ’s 1.6 million parking spaces. As previously announced, chargers will be provided by LAZ’s hardware partner, AUTEL.

Numbers: 50,000 level 2 ports are the charging headline, but it’s the breadth of the LAZ footprint that balances the equation. 4,000+ parking facilities in 536 cities across the US and Canada represent a significant opportunity to bring the benefits of long-dwell-time location charging to EV drivers in densely populated areas.

Nuance: LAZ Parking shared details of plans to add DC fast charging in partnership with bp pulse more than a year ago. That project targeted 20 cities over five years, but AC charging immediately lends itself to a much broader deployment plan. Although fast charging has a role to play in encouraging EV adoption among those who can’t install home charging, L2 holds the real key to unlocking widely available and convenient destination charging.

Next Up: No timeline is shared for the LAZ Parking deployment, but watch these pages for a stronger focus on L2 deployments in the US and Canada next year.

The AC/DC section is proving too small to share the wide range of news and activations on the destination charging side, so we’ll be adding new segments to better track this critical area of charging infrastructure.

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News - Electrify America is the unexpected name leading the non-Supercharger deployments this week, posting its strongest seven days of the year right at the close. Tesla, naturally, had a busy week, as did Red E and ChargePoint. But despite some notable locations, IONNA fell short of the activation surge it will need to move past 100 sites in its first year of charging EVs.

Numbers - 540 DC charging ports at 74 charging locations added to the Alternative Fuels Data Center this week, spread across 29 states and provinces.

Notable New Stations + AFDC Additions:

🔴 A satisfyingly round 200 stalls were energized this week by Tesla Charging, at 12 new Superchargers in seven states (CA/GA/MD/NM/NY/SC/TX). Contributing strongly to the cause is the impressive 60-stall Supercharger in Manning, SC, complete with solar canopies and pull-throughs. A more humble eight-stall Supercharger in Alamogordo, NM, also has the attention of locals, with AP1 on Twitter/X reporting with this site visit.

💞 Love’s continues to add to its location count in Texas, with a new NEVI site energized in Encinal. Following hot on the heels of four stalls in Natalia, TX last week, the company clearly wants to clear its decks of NEVI projects scheduled to open in 2025 and start moving on those to be deployed in the New Year.

🟢 Electrify America celebrated several milestones in 2025, passing 1,000 charging locations earlier this year and, more recently, sharing 500 chargers across 100+ EA sites with Simon Properties. This week’s activity caps a productive year for the network, with eight new locations energized in six states (CA/FL/MD/NJ/PA/VA), averaging 7.5 stalls per site. That’s a sign of things to come in 2026, when EA will shift to a minimum of 10 stalls per site, wherever possible. Target locations in North Brunswick, NJ, and Glen Allen, VA, are the ones that meet that criteria this week, while a smaller four-stall deployment in Sewickley, PA, marks the state’s 26th NEVI-funded location.

🍁 Not content to let its US sibling have all the fun, Electrify Canada also energized a new station this week. 10 stalls at a retail plaza in Burlington, ON, bring even more options to an area that’s already served by several Flo sites, Tesla, and a handful of dealership options. On the Run Charging will also join the fray soon, showing that DCFC competition is brewing on both sides of the border.

🔵 EVgo opened four new locations, three of which are owned and operated by them. The fourth is the only one not located in California, which adds Flying-J to the mix with a new six-stall activation under a canopy in Cocoa, FL. Of the locations opened in California this week, all are at least six-stall deployments with 350kW hardware, with two in partnership with Ethan Conrad Properties out of Sacramento.

🔶 Rivian’s latest Adventure Network activation in Utah brings another five charging stalls for drivers leaving I-15 at exit 112, as the town of Beaver gets another DCFC pin. This exit exemplifies what’s happening along corridors across the US: where at the start of the year, EV drivers only had a four-stall Electrify America location at this exit, they can now pick from a V4 Tesla Supercharger, IONNA, and now Rivian, for a total of 21 charging spaces.

⚡ Circuit électrique added two more sites, pushing the network’s total count ever closer to 500 DCFC locations. This week’s additions are an eight-stall site in Boisbriand and six stalls in Ascot Corner, QC.

🌊 Two new locations for British Columbia bring BC Hydro’s DC port count above 600, with six stalls in North Vancouver and eight in Richmond proving popular additions to the company’s network. That now stands at 166 fast-charging locations across the province, around a quarter of which also offer L2 charging at the same site.

⭕ Red E added 22 new stalls at six locations in four states (AZ/MA/MI/OH). The majority are four-stall fast-charging sites located at a variety of business categories, from Nipmuc High School in Upton, MA, to dealerships and fueling/convenience stores, like this one in Dayton, OH.

🍑 Georgia Power-ed up three fast charging options for locals in the vicinity of Claxton, Hazlehurst, and Reidsville. Two of the three are located alongside Huddle House restaurants, which should give visitors access to 24/7 food and facilities.

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

🚧 Another week, another set of construction fences up for IONNA, with locations in California an increasingly common sight in the company’s social feeds. Orange, Placerville, and Tulare, CA, all join a crowded list of sites in progress, with Austell, GA, the fourth and final location shared.

🛒 Anyone attempting to track the progress of the Walmart Energy DCFC program is increasingly busy, as the world’s largest retailer drops another batch of “coming soon” stores to its EV nice list. More than 30 locations are listed at the time of writing, covering Arizona, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah, as well as the company’s home state of Arkansas. Permits were also identified for a site in Martinsburg, WV, a state notoriously short on reliable public fast-charging options.

📢 Electrify America announced a new partnership with Massachusetts-based WS Development, which will bring 15 new fast-charging locations to five states (CA/FL/IL/MA/NY) next year. These will be white-label locations owned by the property developer and operated by EA, with the first three locations in Chestnut Hill, Millbury, and Salem, MA.

🔶 Rivian added its latest upcoming site pins to the Adventure Network (RAN) charging map, including four new locations in Long Beach and Rocklin, CA, Scottsdale, AZ, and Independence, MO. Thanks to RANtracker on X/Twitter for the details. 11 RAN locations remain in the company’s upgrade program to gen 1.5 hardware, at which point the network will be fully open to non-Rivian electric vehicles.

📍 New pins continue to be added to the Mercedes-Benz High Power Charging map, with the “coming soon” count up to 31 and spread across new states including New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, and Tennessee. On the ground, construction is in the advanced stages at a number of MB-HPC locations, including the first in Canada. Of the seven locations on deck for British Columbia, Abbotsford looks likely to be the first site energized.

🪙 The first NEVI site in Georgia looks close to completion, with canopy up and chargers powered on at the Racetrac in Dublin, GA. The last vestiges of construction are still to be removed, but don’t be surprised if we have another state live and 150+ locations open on the NEVI map before the year is out.

📝 New permits identified for both Tesla and IONNA, with Rechargeries in Bell, CA and Frederick, MD, by AlejandroEV66, and Superchargers slated for Baton Rouge, LA, and Westwood, MA, found by MarcoRP.

News - Ahead of holiday road trips getting underway, IONNA announced a network-wide pricing promotion from Thursday, 18th December onwards.

Numbers - Rates at all IONNA fast-charging locations will be set at $0.39 per kWh or lower. No expiry date for the promotional pricing has been shared, but we expect to see it last at least through January 1st, 2026, in order to fully cover holiday travel and drive greater utilization at the company’s 60+ Rechargeries across the United States.

Nuance: The IONNA discount benefits some locations more than others, with the most significant drop affecting the new Rechargery in Festus, MO, where the price drops by one-third from its network high of $0.58 per kWh. Locations that are already at a low rate, like the Rechargeries in Cordele, GA ($0.32/kWh) and Janesville, WI ($0.33/kWh) remain at those price points.

Next Up - The IONNA promotion doesn’t deviate far from the company’s previous average of $0.40 per kWh, but it does temporarily smooth out the more expensive outlier Rechargeries, providing a consistently low rate across the network. No other networks have promotional pricing in place as of 12/20/25, but we’ll watch for developments during the holiday week and round up any competing deals in the next edition.

News - Fleet charging operator Greenlane Infrastructure wrapped a foundational year with an update covering achievements in 2025, performance at its first charging hub in Colton, CA, and where the company plans to open hubs over the next 12 months.

Numbers - 98% uptime and 96% CSAT (Customer SATisfaction metric) represent a solid start for a company opening its first charging hub, especially in the heavy duty EV segment. Seven more hubs are in the pipeline, giving Greenlane fleet customers charging options that connect the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach to two primary inland destinations, Las Vegas, NV, and Phoenix, AZ.

Nuance - Uptime is important, but the public charging sector is quickly shifting to more customer-oriented KPIs, like activation rate and first attempt success. Mentioning performance metrics like CSAT is a good sign that Greenlane wants to bring that focus to fleet charging operations. Common language and streamlined industry measurements were a focus of the Inside EV Charging Summit (US) earlier this month and should evolve quickly in 2026, as the industry continues to mature.

Next Up - Greenlane’s map is a neat visualization of the current state of heavy-duty fleet charging infrastructure. Hubs are opening across the Greater Los Angeles area, facilitating short-haul electric freight moves, but the longer routes along I-10 to Arizona and I-15 to Nevada are the next hurdle for electric fleet operators. Maintaining high uptime and facilities that serve HDEV drivers well will play a critical role in separating the leading providers from those that simply drop in charging hardware and hope for the best.

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

This week, we align the 50th edition of The Weekly 1.21⚡ with the 50th episode of our Coast-to-Coast EVs livestream, which first aired a couple of weeks ago.

🎧 Unpacking the Top 50 Charging Operators in the US and Canada 🥇

Hosts Eric, Walter, and Steve undertake the not insignificant task of running through the 50 charging operators with the most DC charging locations across the United States and Canada. We include some “New but Notable” players that we expect to enter the top 25 within the next few months.

As you’ll see from the IONNA, MB-HPC, and Walmart Energy updates elsewhere in this edition, there’s no shortage of competition with their eyes on the established top spots, occupied by the likes of Electrify America, EVgo, and ChargePoint. That said, Tesla’s enviable position at the top seems secure, given that even the most ambitious 2030 targets fall short of what the Supercharger network offers today.

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:

Electrify America earns ISO 9001:2015 certificate for electric vehicle charging

bp pulse scores $500,000 grant from Illinois for Des Plaines Gigahub

Envirospark and Colliers to build out commercial property EV charging

Rangeway works with Monta to manage chargers on West Coast travel routes

California’s Clean Bus & Truck Voucher program (HVIP) reopened this week

Application period open for Rebuild Illinois funding opportunity (DCFC + L2)

NMDOT opened up the state’s third phase of NEVI funding (deadline: 12/31/25) - Full application details here.

Now in phase 2, Arizona is accepting bids for 34 NEVI stations (deadline: 1/16/26)

California’s FCCP incentives program application period remains open (deadline: 1/29/26) — assistance with applications is available here

Michigan’s DTE is now accepting applications for grants from its Emerging Technology Fund through January 31st, 2026

Round 3 of Ohio NEVI funding is open, with an info webinar recording + resulting Q&A doc now available (up to 10 contractors selected, deadline for rd. 3 proposals: 2/5/26)

Round 3 of the Illinois NEVI funding is now open, with $65.6M available including applications for M-HDEV charging sites (deadline: 2/13/26)

If you found this edition useful, please share the value by passing it on to a friend, colleague, or family member with an interest in electrification.

See you next week ⚡

Cheers,

Steve / Plug & Play EV