Good day, fellow Electron Advocate,

If you thought the policy rollercoaster of 2025 had run its course by the New Year, think again. Whether it’s the questionable concept of 100% US-made charging hardware in order to access NEVI funds or the shifting sands of Canadian EV policy, the only constant on the political side of EV charging seems to be change.

Even so, news of more than $84M in charging investment north of the border and record-setting private sector deployment across the United States shows we have little to worry about in terms of getting EVs where they need to go, regardless of how vehicle sales numbers land this year.

That said, here’s the latest digest of EVI developments across the US and Canada ⤵️

News - A new approach to personal transport electrification is brewing in Canada, where the 100% EV by 2035 requirement has been replaced with an incentives-based approach to EV sales. The shift also brings a new $84.4 million (CAD) tranche of funding for the country’s Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP), which will support 122 charging projects across the country.

Numbers - The investment aims to add more than 8,000 chargers to the Canadian landscape, although it doesn’t differentiate between DC and AC charging installations. ZEVIP serves both levels of charging and the breakdown of ports to funds suggests mostly AC charging, with some DC-only recipients like Electrify Canada representing the DCFC side with 40 chargers in three provinces.

Nuance - The charging infrastructure segment of the wider $97M funding announcement represents 87% of the total, demonstrating how critical personal vehicle electrification will be to Canada’s clean transportation goals. The stick of setting EV adoption requirements is giving way to the carrots of purchase incentives and automaker support, both of which have shown success in other high adoption EV markets. With private sector investment not yet showing the same ambition in Canada as it has across the United States, government support for expanding charging infrastructure can be a catalyst.

Next Up - With only Mercedes-Benz High Power Charging among the rising North American networks showing concrete plans for Canada, the focus is on domestic networks and federal/provincial projects to step up. For a closer look at the recipients of this new ZEVIP funding and other charging infrastructure initiatives underway across Canada, Electrive has a more detailed breakdown here.

News - Ontario-based Jule energized a key fast-charging location in Millinocket, ME, a relatively remote town in northern Maine that partially bridges onwards I-95 travel to the Canadian border with New Brunswick.

Numbers - Two battery-backed DC fast chargers capable of up to 200kW make for Jule’s fourth location in Maine over the past two months. Across the continent, Jule operates 120 DC ports across 41 locations in seven states and two provinces.

Nuance - Jule’s sites in Maine arrived via the strangulated route of public funding at both the state and federal level. A recently opened site in Portland received funding from the NEVI program, while Millinocket and additional sites in Orono and Gorham were awarded funds via various programs administered by Efficiency Maine.

Next Up - Jule has around 20 more NEVI award locations to complete across multiple states, including Colorado, where it already has sites energized. Across the US and Canada, the company has more than 50 “coming soon” locations on its site map.

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News - AC charging additions were also down this week, after the previous week’s promising start to February that logged almost 500 new L2 ports. Fewer than half that were energized over the past seven days.

Numbers - 224 L2 charging ports added to the Alternative Fuels Data Center this week, spread across 28 states and provinces.

Notable New L2 + AFDC Additions:

◾ Blink Charging added 27 AC ports across 10 new charging locations in six states, half of which were at municipal sites in Henderson, NV, such as the Valley View Recreation Center and Aventura Park.

🟠 ChargePoint deployed 52% of this week’s new L2 ports, with notable additions at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (14 ports) in Atlantic City, NJ, Springhill Suites (4 ports) in St. Louis, MO, and an expansion of the existing destination chargers at the Kirkland Heights Apartments (11 ports) in Kirkland, WA.

🔵 BC Hydro serves both short and long-stay EV drivers at its latest location at the Translink Center in Coquitlam, with seven L2 ports alongside the four DC fast chargers that also make up the site.

🟦 FLO added 16 L2 ports at seven locations in four provinces and one state. The largest (four ports each) are at M’Chigeeng First Nation Arena on Manitoulin Island in Ontario and Soucy Park in Gravelbourg, SK.

⚡ EV Gateway added eight ports for travelers visiting Ogdensburg International Airport in upstate New York, close to the border with Canada.

🛏️ Smart Charge America took time out to celebrate the installation of new Tesla Universal Destination Chargers at the Home2 Suites Hilton in Taylor, TX.

🟢 Chargesmart EV added six new AC ports at the Reservoir Place Apartments in Carmel, NY.

⭕ Red E showed that it’s not just DC fast charging that will quietly build its network in the Northeast US, with two new four-port L2 locations in Braintree, MA, and Hobson’s Landing, in the heart of downtown Portland, ME.

News - Still no signs of an early spring in the world of DC fast charging, as only a few providers shake off the January deep freeze to activate new locations this week.

Numbers - 203 DC charging ports at 35 charging locations added to the Alternative Fuels Data Center this week, spread across 13 states and two provinces.

Notable New Locations + AFDC Additions:

🔴 Tesla Charging added 48 stalls at four of its own Superchargers this week, spread across three states (CA/NV/OR) and one province (ON). Canada’s addition brings 12 new V4 posts to Ottawa, while another 12 stalls in Medford, OR, add another Supercharger option for EV drivers in southern Oregon. None of the new sites are full V4 at 1,000V.

📍 The evolution of Kwik Trip’s “Kwik Charge” network took another stride forward this week, with the brand’s first DCFC location in Minnesota. The store in North Branch, MN, has the distinction of becoming Kwik Trip’s first EV charging site outside of Wisconsin, beating out an upcoming site in Forest Lake, which is still awaiting a transformer.

⚡ The City of Decatur, IL, opened up three new fast-charging locations in conjunction with ChargePoint. DCFC sites at the city’s civic center, library, and Nelson Park all add two dispensers each, equipped with CCS1 and CHAdeMO (still kicking) ports. Taken together, these locations double the city’s previous public DCFC site count.

🛣️ bp pulse added its latest charging pit stop at a TravelCenters of America (TA) to the AFDC, this time at the TA in Redding, CA. The site brings the network’s total to 637 DC ports across 77 locations in 18 states.

➡️ Mercedes-Benz High Power Charging (MB-HPC) opened a new site in Alpharetta, GA, bringing the network’s total site count to 78 locations. To see how the Georgia site developed from trenches to charging EVs, check out this development video from Carlos Murcia.

🍁 In Canada, all seven of the MB-HPC locations slated for British Columbia are now online and charging vehicles. Canadians will now watch whether MB-HPC continues to focus on the west of the country or shifts attention to EV-friendly markets on the other side of the country, including Ontario and Québec.

⚡ An unexpected NEVI site popped up in Randolph, VT, with four stalls powered up in conjunction with Red E at the small town in central Vermont. This one is around three miles from the nearest exit off I-89, indicating that the state is taking advantage of looser requirements around “Fully Built Out” status that was introduced by FHWA last August.

🔵 Francis Energy opened its third upgraded Oklahoma location under Tesla’s Supercharger for Business offering, replacing four old BTC Power dispensers with eight V3.5 Supercharger posts in Bartlesville, OK.

🟠 IONNA opened a new Rechargery in Blaine, MN, its fifth so far in the Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. The network also confirmed its third location in California is open, north of San Francisco in Larkspur, CA, although this site didn’t make it into this week’s AFDC numbers and should show up next week. But if you’re in the northern Bay Area, it’s powered up and available to charge your EV!

🟢 Electrify America opened its latest location in partnership with Costco, this site in St. Louis Park, MN. Six stalls are operated under EA’s white-label offering, which lets the retailer add its brand and set pricing, which in this instance is at a relatively high $0.59 per kWh. The aforementioned IONNA sites currently sit a full 20 cents cheaper, at $0.39 per kWh.

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

📝 Starting with permitting news, AlejandroEV66 identified a new IONNA location in Miami, FL. On the Tesla permits side, we have news from MarcoRP1 on new Superchargers in Valdosta, GA, Yonkers, NY, and Lander, WY.

⚪ No new white-labeled Tesla locations - aka Superchargers for Business (SfB) - for passenger EVs this week, but an interesting new commercial EV charging site hosting both Tesla Megachargers and Kempower’s “Mega Satellite” is in permitting for Forum Mobility. This one is based in Oakland, CA.

🛒 The iceberg-like Walmart EV Charging project continues to surface in the parking lots of retail stores across the United States, with The Arkansas eTraveler’s latest map providing a handy visual for the retailer’s progress. Crowley, TX, is the latest activation and featured in this video, while new sites continue to be identified in permitting and, eventually, on the company’s official coming soon sections.

🚧 IONNA confirmed “fences up” construction at three locations: Tallahassee, FL, Gary, IN, and Stanhope, NJ. Dispensers are also spotted in the ground in San Francisco, both at the Folsom St. and Mission St. locations. The latter received a second round NEVI award last year and could become California’s first location energized under the federal program.

🔶 RANtracker reports permits for new Rivian fast chargers in Santa Clarita, CA, and Centennial, CO. RAN site construction is also progressing in Rocklin, CA, where gen 1.5 dispensers are in the ground, and future sites in Washington state. In Bellingham, WA, construction is underway, while Rockport, WA, is further back but will add a valuable fast-charging option on the way to the North Cascades. Thanks to Marian for the note on that location.

News - The weekly drumbeat of progress towards Tesla Semis hitting the road to haul our freight continues, as the company adds upcoming Megachargers to its Find Us map.

Numbers - Only two locations are live at the time of writing, both of which are at Tesla production facilities (Megafactory in Lathrop, CA, and the Gigafactory in Sparks, NV). It’s the 64 “coming soon” Megachargers that are most important, showing a nationwide network, across 15 states, that will lay the foundation for electric truck charging in the US.

Nuance - Tesla recently confirmed Semi production specs. Both Standard Range (325 miles) and Long Range (500 miles) iterations support MCS 3.2, which in optimal conditions adds 60% of that range back with a 30-minute stop. The longer-range model will deliver peak charging at 1.2 Megawatts, which aligns with the optimal stall-level capabilities of the locations shared on Tesla’s new Megacharger map.

Next Up - With final production specs complete and orders in place, Tesla has confirmed deliveries of the Semi will begin this year. Megacharger activations will need to be in lockstep with these deliveries to build the same kind of confidence for commercial freight customers that Tesla’s Supercharger network has established for passenger EVs. For a deep dive into the Tesla Semi’s potential and the Megacharger system, read Alex Agne’s article on the subject here.

News - Automaker-backed IONNA has resisted the temptation to put its prices back to regular 2025 levels, following the drop to a network-wide promotional rate over its second birthday celebration weekend. Rather than revert to the location-based price points it defined before the holiday period, IONNA appears to be doubling down on a predictably affordable rate at all sites.

Numbers: Pre-promotional pricing for the 2025 holidays was based on location, with some sites as high as $0.58 per kWh at launch (although the network average was typically in the low 0.40s). That came down to $0.39 per kWh or below for what was assumed to be a Christmas/New Year promotional rate, but which lingered through to IONNA’s second anniversary celebratory rate. As the $0.20 per kWh birthday candles were blown out, IONNA isn't returning to its location-based highs but locking in the $0.39 per kWh holiday rate.

Nuance - Although it’s certainly possible to find DCFC sites with pricing lower than $0.39 per kWh, it typically requires owning a specific model, charging at a specific off-peak time, and/or signing up for a monthly membership plan. IONNA’s price point challenges the US charging industry by doing away with all of that complexity and simply offering its customers a uniformly low rate for all. For price-conscious EV drivers, this takes the guesswork and research out of finding the most reasonable DCFC locations.

Next Up - The longer the sub $0.40/kWh price point remains in place, the more IONNA will develop a reputation as the most uncomplicated, affordable fast-charging network in the United States. Whether or not this is sustainable in the long term is open to question, but it certainly lays down the gauntlet to competitors as 2026 travel planning begins.

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

This week we visit CBC’s podcast The House, which unpacks the political pivot around electric vehicles in Canada.

🎧 The House Podcast: Carney shifts gears to get more EVs on Canada’s roads⚡

Among the various political observations north of the border, the first segment of this episode asks a provocative question: does it make sense to pour billions into the “struggling” EV sector? It’s an interesting look at the role EVs could play in the future of the Canadian auto industry, and how public policy interacts with transportation electrification.

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:

ChargePoint confirms it delivered 100+ million charging sessions in 2025

Curbside charging comes to the District of Columbia with DDOT/it’s electric pilot

100% US-made NEVI charger requirement proposed by Dept. of Transportation

i-charging launches MAX product line for megawatt-scale charging

Electric Fish install in MI tests aging urban grid for Sustainable Cities Challenge

Mercedes-Benz HPC’s next “Driver Dialogues” event is scheduled for Fort Worth, TX, on Feb. 24-25, 2026

$10 million available for hotel charging sites via NJ EV Tourism Corridor Charging

Deadline for Oregon round 2 NEVI applications is this week (2/20/26 at 5PM PST)

Maryland’s $10M Community Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Grant Program is open for applications (deadline: 2/25/26)

California’s Clean Bus & Truck Voucher program is open again

California’s third round NEVI funding is open for applications (deadline: 3/25/26 at 11:59 PST)

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