The largest publicly traded full-service truck stop and travel center, TravelCenters of America (TA), is teaming up with Electrify America to deploy DC fast chargers along major highways to meet the growing number of electric vehicles on the road.
People are buying electric vehicles at a record pace as interest in zero-emission EVs has never been higher.
New EV sales volume reached over 800,000 for the first time last year, an increase of 65% compared to 2021, according to Kelley Blue Book.
More electric vehicles on the road mean additional charging infrastructure is needed to accommodate the surge. Although over 80% of charging is done at home, expanding the number of available public chargers can give EV drivers confidence on long trips or on the highway.
Electrify America currently operates one of the largest DC fast-charger networks across the US, with 3,435 fast chargers across 791 stations, according to their website.
Unlike many publicly available EV chargers, EA offers some of the fastest charging speeds. EA’s Ultra-Fast 150 kW and Hyper-Fast 350 kW options make them suitable for public deployment, especially along major highways.
TravelCenters teams up with Electrify America
In a significant partnership, TravelCenters is teaming up with Electrify America to offer EV charging at select TA/Petro locations.
The first stations are expected to roll out this year with a goal of deploying around 1,000 individual EV chargers at 200 locations along major highways over the next five years.
President and CEO of Electrify America praised the company’s new partnership, saying:
Electrify America is pleased to collaborate with an industry leader like TravelCenters of America to provide the critical infrastructure needed for EV drivers of today and tomorrow. Our combined strengths allow us to take bigger steps toward our shared vision of a more sustainable future.
Top comment by Steve Bee
I got excited about this until I saw it was EA doing the maintenance. At least TA will have people on site to quickly report down chargers to EA and dog EA until they get fixed. As well, TA has an incentive to make sure chargers don't stay broken or that chargers get ICED, kind of the way gas pumps get better watched and maintained at TA and other places unlike unstaffed charger locations.
There are all kinds of companies that do gas pump maintenance. When similar companies grow into the EV charger space and stores can make routine calls to get chargers fixed, then we will be getting somewhere.
Electrify America will handle the infrastructure deployment process and maintenance. Meanwhile, TravelCenters will gain access to the company’s charging network, allowing the locations to become visible to EV drivers to access via its mobile app.
In addition, the company says the network of charging stations will be available for most EV models.
Electrek’s Take
The partnership is a win all around. Electrify America continues expanding its network with one of the most prominent truck stops and travel centers. TravelCenters will see additional traffic as more and more drivers switch to zero-emissions EVs over the coming years.
And perhaps, most importantly, EV drivers will have more fast charging options along major highways.
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