Good day, fellow Connector Checker 🔍🧐,

Perhaps stung by question marks over the relatively sluggish pace of deployments in the first quarter of the year (almost half the number of Q4 2025), IONNA dropped a slew of news this week.

From taking over one of the better-known brands in the middle tier of US DC fast charging to confirming fences up at five sites in key EV markets, repeating the mantra of “IONNA Speed” is the order for April. By contrast, Walmart EV Charging is sliding in new sites with minimal fanfare, adding three new states to its DCFC map already this month.

Understated or loudly proclaimed, there’s plenty happening to talk about, so let’s jump into the latest EVI developments across the US and Canada ⤵️

News - Second-wave DC fast charging provider Circle K is partnering with automaker-backed IONNA to upgrade existing locations and build hundreds more.

Numbers - Since 2023, Circle K has developed a network of 377 charging stalls at 92 sites in 14 states. Average stall count hovers just above 4, although many sites (like the one below) were future-proofed to handle more dispensers and power as demand grew. This is likely a contributing factor behind IONNA’s commitment to upgrade 85 existing sites, as well as developing hundreds more.

Nuance - Although it’s not uncommon to see an existing CPO’s network taken over by a new provider, Circle K handing over to IONNA is notable due to the retailer’s prominence in leading European EV markets, such as the Nordics. There, the brand has delivered some of the most compelling fast-charging sites on the continent, something which North America had eyed with envy and will now be reliant on IONNA to deliver. The takeover might not add many new sites this year, but it will certainly increase available stalls. Circle K’s average of four stalls per site is below even the smallest IONNA Rechargery, which offers six. IONNA’s average is closer to 10 stalls and trending towards larger deployments, which we can expect to see carried over to Circle K sites.

Next Up - The initial target of 350+ Rechargeries at Circle K properties includes the 85 sites, many of which we expect to be upgraded this year. Newly developed sites will take a bit longer, with 2027 targets for most new activations.

News - RAN appears to be the first DCFC network to fully embrace the incoming connector type, with four of its California sites in Crescent City, Fortuna, San Bernardino, and Ukiah removing CCS1 handles entirely, now featuring only NACS-J3400.

Numbers - The Adventure Network has 144 locations open in 39 states, based on Rivian Roamer’s tracking. The automaker is closing in on the 1,000-port milestone (963 at the time of writing), but the makeup of connector types will become the focus as it reaches that number. More than 100 RAN ports are now NACS-J3400, with 33 sites offering both connector types.

Nuance - While these early NACS-J3400-only sites indicate Rivian’s willingness to shift to a single connector type, the wider network remains 89% CCS1. This covers hundreds of sites and some locations where other fast-charging options are limited, unlike much of California. Those RAN locations are likely to transition slower than others, perhaps maintaining a hybrid approach until the native NACS port is more common or alternatives appear in those areas.

Next Up - Just as it finishes opening up the formerly Rivian-only network, with only five sites left to gain universal access, RAN raises another transition question: when will all the sites go “full NACS”? We can expect to see the trend continue in California and other states with high EV adoption first, but Rivian will need to tread carefully to ensure its early owners, all of whom drive models with CCS1, have an adapter on hand to avoid antagonizing the very people who’ve helped the company reach this point.

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News - A steady week for AC charging additions on both sides of the border, with ChargePoint underpinning 64% of the new L2 ports. Blink (41 ports) and FLO (46 ports) also had solid weeks in the destination charging department.

Numbers - 367 L2 charging ports added to the Alternative Fuels Data Center this week, spread across 21 states and 5 Canadian provinces.

Notable New L2 + AFDC Additions:

🟠 ChargePoint added 236 ports across the United States and Canada. 20 new L2 stalls in Tulalip, WA, constitute one of the largest deployments this week, with others in Atlantic City, NJ (10 ports), and Chapel Hill, NC (10 ports added to existing locations at UNC).

🔴 Tesla provided a brief update on recent Wall Connector for Business installations, with 207 ports added across 46 sites in the US and Canada. The US deployments dominate, with only one Wall Connector added north of the border in Quebec. The largest of them brings 34 ports to the 605 Kelton apartments in Los Angeles, CA, while 8 more at the Marriott/Residence Inn in Madison, AL, will benefit EV travelers this summer.

🏴‍☠️ Blink Charging had a couple of 10+ port sites amongst its 41 ports this week, but with summer looming, it’s the 4 at Pirates Cove in Littleton, CO, that we’ll spotlight. The water park is a great place to get your charge on when the sun shines, and makes the point that destinations such as theme parks, historic villages, and other attractions where visitors spend most of the day are a natural fit for L2 charging.

🔷 FLO added 46 AC ports across 9 locations, 3 of which are in the US (CT/NY/WA), with the rest spread across 3 Canadian provinces (BC/ON/QC). The largest is on the US side, with 14 new ports at the train station in Patchogue, NY, while north of the border, most of the additions add 4 new ports at municipal locations, like this one in Squamish, BC.

⭕ Red E added 14 ports across 2 sites in New York state, with 8 at Laurel Links Country Club in Mattituck, NY, the larger of the two (8 ports).

News - A very quiet week for fast-charging additions following a barnstorming start to the month, with only one Canadian province posting any new locations and only ChargePoint + Red E recording strong US numbers across multiple states.

Numbers - 194 DC charging ports at 44 charging locations added to the Alternative Fuels Data Center this week, spread across 18 states and one province.

Check out the DCFCtracker.com site to see a map of the latest AFDC additions, which can also be filtered down to the past week or month.

Notable New Locations + AFDC Additions:

⭕ Red E roared back in an otherwise lackluster week for openings, posting 44 ports at 14 sites in 6 states. Around half of those locations are at “GM Oil Site” locations in California, all of which add 2 stalls each. These appear to be Chevron sites taken over from existing providers, as we observed with Red E’s listing of former EVCS locations back in March. We’ll dive into those more closely next week as a vendor spotlight. Actual new locations this week include 4 stalls at a Casey’s in Brimfield, IL, and a similar setup at a Clinton Township FasCharge gas station in Red E’s home state of Michigan.

🛒 Walmart didn’t get its latest state into the AFDC in time, but it’s worth noting that the project’s first site in Colorado is now open in Loveland. Adding Rocky Mountain High brings the retailer’s state count into double digits, with a round 10 now in play (AL/AR/AZ/CO/FL/GA/NJ/OK/SC/TX).

⚡ Zero 60 Charging confirmed the network’s ninth site in California, with 8 chargers serving 16 stalls at Churn Creek Marketplace in Redding. This site also marks the company’s 22nd location overall, covering three other states (CO/NY/WI) with sites up to 200kW and hosted on the ChargePoint platform.

🔴 A relatively slow week for Tesla Charging still opened 44 new Supercharger stalls at 3 sites in as many states. The largest brings 16 stalls to a Target store in Woodinville, WA. Still V3 power cabinets at all of these locations, with the number of full V4, 500kW-capable Superchargers remaining on 7 sites for this week.

📍 Pilot-Flying J opened two new travel center locations in Ponce de Leon, FL, and Paducah, KY, which is a NEVI-funded site. For anyone who has already skipped ahead to the pricing section, these two sites continue the premium theme with rates set at $0.50 and $0.61 per kWh, respectively.

🟠 IONNA opened a new Rechargery in Bensalem, PA, this week, bringing its total in the state to 6, behind only Florida (14), Texas (9), and Ohio (7).

⚡Francis Energy dropped another NEVI site onto its map, this time adding to the network’s Pennsylvania presence with 4 stalls in Columbia, PA. The network is now troubling the top spot of charging providers with the most NEVI locations energized, with EVgo’s combined footprint of Pilot-Flying J and its own dedicated sites just slightly ahead of the Oklahoma-based CPO.

🟢 Electrify America added 12 ports at a single new site, a stall count which in years past would have indicated 2 or 3 different sites. The Menards in Greenwood, IN, follows other EA activations with the home improvement chain in neighboring Ohio and down in Florida.

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, we have new Superchargers found by MarcoRP1 for Phoenix, AZ, Lynwood, CA, Iselin, NJ, and Irving, TX. Of particular interest is the Arizona location, which features 54 V4 stalls intended for use by Tesla Robotaxis.

🚛 A new Megacharger is also in the Tesla pipeline, with 4 x Semi charging posts on the permit for a site in North Las Vegas, NV.

✅ On the non-Tesla side, an IONNA permit was spotted for Houston, TX, by AlejandroEV66, which is at an ALDI store. Interesting, given the productive relationship the German retailer has with Red E in New York state. Another was spotted for another Washington state Rechargery, this time in Spanaway.

🚧 Sticking with both IONNA and Washington, fellow EV nerd AC sends word of construction progressing well at the upcoming Everett Rechargery (pictured above). We’ll have to start using addresses here, as the network already has an Everett location further north on Broadway, with this next one coming to Evergreen Walk. A coffee shop and Mexican restaurant are nearby, which will hopefully benefit EV drivers rather than have them competing for parking spaces with patrons.

⚪ Another Supercharger for Business (SfB) site is coming to Oklahoma, but this one doesn’t appear to have anything to do with Francis Energy (which has been upgrading existing stations in its home state with Tesla hardware). This one comes from a company called Solsource and should add to the Supercharger options in Tulsa any day now.

☀️ On the same topic, Florida’s Suncoast Charging is putting the final touches on its second SfB location in Wesley Chapel. The Hub at Lexington Oaks promises to be another retail-adjacent winner, following the lead of the new CPO’s debut location, which opened last November.

🪙 NEVI sites continue to proliferate across the United States, with several states vying for the middle positions behind clear leader Pennsylvania. PA shows no signs of letting up its lead, with sites like Muncy, PA, which is now just awaiting its transformer (like so many across North America). According to PennDOT’s NEVI tracking map, this is one of 29 site awards “in progress”, which is almost as many as the state has opened to date.

Is there an upcoming site in your area that the EV community needs to know about?

Reply to this email with the location and charging provider (if known) and we’ll add it to the next edition 🙌🏻

News - Payment solutions provider WEX has added Vehicle Fraud Protection to its existing At-Home offering, adding a verification step for fleet managers before they approve charging reimbursement for drivers who charge their fleet EV at home.

Numbers - WEX's public En Route network comprises ~150,000 chargers across the US, with the home charging option layered on top without requiring separate cards or invoices. The new feature implements a verification model built on 3 sources of info: the fleet vehicle, home charger, and utility data.

Nuance - Verification based on the sources mentioned above is designed to provide confidence in home fleet charging activity and remove the need for manual reimbursement processes. The ability to identify “spend leakage” before reimbursement makes this a valuable addition, sitting within WEX's broader fleet platform, which covers charging at dedicated depots, public hubs, and at the homes of drivers.

Next Up - A survey by Frost & Sullivan, commissioned by WEX, found that 80% of mixed-energy fleet operators expect to electrify at least 25% of their fleets by 2030. As fleet electrification continues to scale, the allure of home charging for light-duty fleet EVs becomes compelling for some fleet operators. Addressing the reimbursement portion of that activity early on gives both managers and drivers confidence that this seemingly ideal arrangement doesn’t become a source of conflict and inefficiency.

News - As a batch of new P-FJ sites open across the country, the network’s national average rate rises back to a former peak, putting it around 10 cents above the US non-member average for DCFC and a full 20 cents above IONNA’s highest price.

Numbers - $0.59 per kWh is the average across the 270+ sites that Pilot-Flying J has deployed so far. Of those sites, only six are priced below $0.50 per kWh, whereas most bp pulse sites offer pricing below that level, either via the standard day rate around $0.48 per kWh or TOU rates that can bring prices down to $0.35 per kWh. IONNA has taken this a step further in 2026, guaranteeing a network-wide top rate of $0.39 per kWh at its 100+ Rechargeries, with some locations even lower than that.

Nuance - While competitors like IONNA, Mercedes-Benz High Power Charging, and bp pulse explore pricing promotions and models as demand levers, P-FJ appears to be set on its core value propositions of coverage and convenience to keep EV drivers coming back. In some cases, this works. Readers of this newsletter have shared that they are happy to pay a little more for the 24/7 amenities, Interstate-adjacent locations, and sometimes full canopies at Pilot sites. But it’s also true that the smaller stall count and sometimes eye-watering prices (up to $0.79 per kWh at one notorious site in Nevada) prompt many others to avoid the network entirely.

Next Up - While others continue to experiment, don’t expect to see P-FJ change its rates any time soon. The network’s build out started before most of the newer entrants and maintains the steady progress one might expect of a Berkshire Hathaway-backed company.

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:

Ohio reboots its NEVI plan with 64 round three site awards

Payless Power report unpacks where EV charging demand is growing fastest

BC Hydro scoops award for Canada’s top charging network

Half of NY/NJ Port Authority fleet vehicles are now electric

Canadian Charging Council provides explainer on DC adapter certification

EV Infrastructure Report launches X account covering upcoming US DCFC sites

Maryland’s round 3 NEVI solicitation is open for applications

Minnesota’s 3rd round NEVI RFI is open (through 4/30/26) for 74 DCFC sites.

Efficiency Maine is seeking qualified bidders for L2 charging (up to $120K per site)

Pennsylvania offers $100M for community EV charging projects, with different 2026 NOFO windows across the state. Start with the Interested Organizations Survey here.

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

The latest round of Colorado’s DCFC Plazas Program is expected soon. Check the general info page to see previous recipients or sign up for the latest dates/news

If you found this edition useful, pass it on to a friend, colleague, or family member interested in electrification.

See you next week ⚡

Cheers,

Steve / Plug & Play EV

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