The automakers decided to build it themselves — and it’s working. Ionna, the fast-charging joint venture backed by eight major car manufacturers, has passed 100 operational charging sites across the United States, with nearly 1,000 individual charging bays now live and the pace of openings accelerating.
Founded by BMW, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and Toyota, Ionna was created to solve the problem its owners heard about most from customers: public charging that is too scarce, too slow and too unpleasant. Its answer is the “Rechargery” — stations with up to 400 kW charging speeds, canopies, lounges, restrooms and food, designed to feel closer to a premium travel stop than a parking-lot afterthought.
Both Plugs, Every Site
Ionna occupies a unique position in the American charging landscape: it is the only DC fast-charging network offering both CCS1 and NACS (Tesla-style) connectors at every site, with roughly 60 percent of chargers wearing CCS1 plugs and 40 percent NACS. As the industry’s transition to the NACS standard progresses, the company says it can rebalance or convert connectors to match demand — future-proofing its hardware either way.
Expansion is coming from several directions at once. A partnership with convenience giant Circle K aims to put Rechargeries at more than 350 Circle K locations nationwide, pairing 400 kW charging with an established retail footprint. Separately, Ionna has announced plans to invest $250 million in California — the country’s largest EV market — to build out its network of flagship sites.
The 30,000-Stall Target
The founding automakers have committed serious capital, with a stated goal of 30,000 DC fast-charging bays deployed by 2030. That would make Ionna one of the largest non-Tesla networks in North America, and a genuine counterweight to the Supercharger system that its member brands’ customers increasingly access via NACS adapters.
The timing is notable. Even as EV sales growth in the US has cooled, charging infrastructure keeps compounding — the country added more than 3,000 new DC fast-charging plugs in the first quarter of 2026 alone. The industry logic is straightforward: reliable, abundant charging is a precondition for the next wave of EV adoption, not a response to it.
For drivers, the practical upshot is simple. The era of nursing a charge to a lonely, half-broken station is ending — and it’s the automakers themselves footing much of the bill.
Source: Destination Charged
