Electrify America fires up California's first 350-kW EV charger
It's not like consumers can use all that juice yet, but hey, future-proofing is always preferred.
Electrify America, Volkswagen's court-ordered community service for its diesel malfeasance, has just installed some very powerful chargers in California.
Electrify America announced Wednesday that it has completed installation of California's first 350-kW electric vehicle charging station. Located at San Francisco Premium Outlets, a mall operated by EA partner Simon, its new bank of 10 chargers lives alongside 20 Tesla Superchargers. That's a whole lot of juice.
Of those 10 chargers, eight will operate at 150 kW, which is about the same power level as Tesla's Superchargers, which can top off the majority of a 100-kWh battery in about an hour. The two remaining chargers will pack 350-kW charging speeds, pushing EVs ever closer to fill-up parity with gas cars -- at 350 kW, EVs can pick up about 200 miles of range in about 10 minutes.
At the moment, though, nobody will be able to take full advantage of that charging power. No production vehicle is equipped to handle that much charge that quickly, though several automakers have pledged support for 350-kW charging in future models. In the meantime, those two 350-kW chargers can still be used by other EVs, just at a slower rate of charge.
Simon and Electrify America have a lot more up their sleeves in the coming years. The two announced a partnernship in May that will see Electrify America chargers appear at 30 different Simon malls across the country. The first went up in Gulfport, Mississippi, in June. In the future, Simon properties in California are set to receive 95 more chargers across 17 additional locations.
Solar Installer Guides
Other Energy Saving Guides
Our Experts