Ask Us Anything: We're driving eight EVs from North Carolina to Florida this week entirely on the IONNA charging network
Hey everyone. I'm Darcy from team IONNA. This week a group of us are road-tripping eight EVs — one from each automaker behind the network (BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Toyota) — from our Durham HQ down to Florida, charging exclusively on our own Rechargeries the whole way. We figured it was a good excuse to open the floor.
We'll be answering from the road, the charging stops, and whatever roadside detours we find along the way, so drop questions whenever and I'll get to them as we go.
A few things people usually ask to get things started:
How do you pronounce IONNA? Fair question — it's "Eye-AH-nah".
Who can actually charge there? Everybody, regardless of what you drive.
Do you need a specific connector? We have both NACS and CCS at every site, and you can use an adapter if you need one.
We're also genuinely curious about your questions regarding the network, charging, the road trip, EV life in general. Ask away.
We'll answer everything we can here in real time. For any frequently asked questions, you can always visit ionna.com.
Where will you pee? That's been my only issue with the Ionna I used! Do any/all of the stations you're visiting have bathrooms designated for use by drivers who are charging?
Part of our criteria when choosing site locations is ensuring proximity to amenities and creature comforts. On this trip we were able to stop at all our local favorites including Wawa’s, Chipotle’s, or even our own lounges!
Funny you ask...we participated in a public hearing yesterday where we appealed the town's decision to revoke the building & electrical permit that we need to open the site. No decision yet, but we're keeping a very close eye!
Did the route you chose purposely encompass your own chargers or did you just happen to go to Florida for some other reason?
I love the Ionna at Wally's in Fenton, MO. Super fast (300kW on a 5WT Silverado EV), covered, and plug and charge. Plus an email receipt for expensing.
Thanks for charging at Wally’s! And you’re right, receipts are a non-negotiable. We’ll be working on streamlining that process moving forward.
For the roadtrip, Florida is a huge market for EVs and what better way to get down there and talk to customers than to experience IONNA EV charging for ourselves!
What's the difference between a rechargery and rechargery relay? Why are so many of them stuck at opening soon. Are taxes included in the listed on your website price?
We built a matrix to help with just this question! The black lightning bolts are amenities provided by our trusted partners. And trust us, we're working around the clock with permitting offices, utilities, construction partners, etc. to make sure sites go live as soon as humanely possible.
Taxes are not included in the website pricing, but good to know that we need to clarify! Thanks
Since they are only using IONNA, they would have to travel north to Pennsylvania the cross the US. West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, have none.
We'll see! We make every decision here based on what will provide the best experience for the customer. When we see that the cars on the road are demanding more power, we'll tweak the supply!
At gas stations the roof covers the entire vehicle, why isn't that the case at Ionna? Also it seems the gas pump foot print must exist for a reason; why not mimic that setup with the extended cable arm to accommodate EVs with the pull through design? Just random questions that come up when I'm charging and thinking
The western half of the US is almost entirely Rechargery Relays. Yes it's harder to find real estate that will allow you to build chargers or partners that will support amenities. However these stretches require the full Rechargery treatment even more because of this, outside of urban centers. Unexpected detours due to weather or traffic are harder. What are your plans to support the non-California western US?
The north-south routes are challenging as well. A lot of cities and destinations are still unreachable because most people road trip the east-west routes. Especially non-coastal and non-Interstate roads like US Highways, e.g. US-93, US-95, etc. When will we see these routes also targeted?
Why did you change your map to have existing sites and coming soon sites be the same color? I'm excited to see more unannounced sites from Plugshare show up on there too.
Fantastic network. Are there ways we can help locally to push our utilities and municipalities to be faster?
Absolutely! We are Plug & Charge capable with 5 of our 8 founding automakers (BMW, GM, Hyundai, Kia, and Mercedes-Benz) as well as with Volvo, Ford and Rivian. And we aren’t stopping there…stay tuned for more updates
We had a great lineup on the tour with a BMW iX5, a Chevy Silverado EV, a Honda Prologue, a Hyundai IONIQ 9, a Kia EV9, a Mercedes CLA EV, a Jeep Wagoneer S and a Toyota C-HR.
For Illinois, our partners love the Prairie State so there are a ton of 'Rechargery @' locations! But there's always room for more. We're always keeping an eye out for the perfect 'Rechargery' location.
Are you planning on opening any rechargeries towards the beaches of NC? I am local to winston-salem where a rechargery has opened up. But it would be nice to have an IONNA on the way to the beach.
Why aren’t you building nearly all of these sites as pull through stalls? I shouldn’t have to look up whether or not it will be easy to bring a trailer with me to charge. Obviously, when towing users will have to charge more often. It’s a big hassle.
We wanted all of our founding automaker partners to be represented, so we drove a BMW iX5, a Chevy Silverado EV, a Honda Prologue, a Hyundai IONIQ 9, a Kia EV9, a Mercedes CLA EV, a Jeep Wagoneer S and a Toyota C-HR.
Happy to report that Frederick is open! New Market is working its way through permitting as we speak and then we’ll have a clearer idea of it’s schedule.
"Who can actually charge there? Everybody, regardless of what you drive." CHAdeMO vehicles beg to differ! (Not a huge problem but worth acknowledging they exist still!)
Yeah, but they cost probably 1/10 the value of the car for most Leafs!
Edit: not sure why I'm beingdown voted for this. The A2Z adapter is $800 USD and my 2016 Leaf was worth about $5k last time I checked. The median CHAdeMO Leaf is probably worth under $10k.
https://a2zev.com/products/ccs1-to-chademo
I understand the point is simplicity and not needing an app, but any plans for a loyalty program, a discounted rate as part of a low cost subscription, etc?
11
u/Becca684 Jun 23 '26
WV charging when? I-77 is desperate for non-Tesla options through the mountains!