North American public EV charging network, IONNA, has announced a heavy $250 million worth of planned investment for California, which will help bring hundreds more public charging points to the state.The new multi-million dollar investment will take place over the next three years, helping boost the number of IONNA charge points contracted across California – which currently stands at just over 1,000.As the state with the highest rate of EV adoption across the US, opportunities for new public charging locations here are ripe.California to benefit from more public EV charging points

IONNA, the EV charging joint venture between major OEMs including BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Toyota, has announced fresh investment plans for California. Over 1,100 EV charging bays from IONNA are already live or under construction across the US, and the EV-pioneering state of California will be a key market for the CPO as it looks to expand its offering nationwide.

Alongside the Californian expansion, IONNA is also hard at work on rolling out Plug & Charge technology across its charge points nationwide. This solution, as we’ve already seen implemented by CPOs elsewhere, allows the payment and charging authentication process to take place directly between the car and the charger – no app or physical payment card required. So far, 5 of the 8 IONNA founding OEMs have integrated this seamless technology, with the remaining founding companies also set to support the technology by next year – alongside other OEMs such as Rivian and Ford.

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After launch ceremonies for numerous new charging locations across California this month, the total number of bays contracted by the firm across the US now stands at over 4,000, representing impressive growth over earlier this summer. Longer term, IONNA has strong ambitions for North America. By 2030, the CPO aims to have over 30,000 ultra-fast charging bays live, helping to support more drivers in the switch to electric cars.

Seth Cutler, Chief Executive Officer at IONNA, commented:

“This week’s expansion into California is a snapshot of the national momentum IONNA has built in under a year’s time. ‘IONNA Speed’ isn’t just about how quickly we grow, but also how we deliver, and the IONNA team consistently operates with a driver-first mentality to elevate the charging experience. Every new Rechargery reflects our commitment to providing the coverage, quality, and reliability our drivers deserve.”