Shop and charge. That's the plan behind Electrify America's new network of fast chargers being installed around the country.
Electrify America, a division of Volkswagen set up to spend diesel settlement money on installing electric-car charging infrastructure around America, announced that its latest new charging stations will go into Simon shopping plazas. Simon is one of the largest shopping center operators in the United States, operating malls under the Simon Malls, The Mills, and Premium Outlets brand names.
The agreement covers 30 shopping centers across the U.S., including King of Prussia in Pennsylvania, San Francisco Premium Outlets, Del Amo Fashion Center in Los Angeles, Ontario Mills and Santa Rosa Plaza in California, and Florida Mall in Orlando.
The installations will complement Simon's 446 chargers at 107 locations across the U.S. that are already in service. Simon joins other nationwide retailers such as Walgreens and Ikea to offer electric vehicle chargers at multiple locations. Walmart announced in April that it would install chargers at 100 stores nationwide.
DON'T MISS: Electrify America maps out charging network to rival Tesla Superchargers
The shopping centers near freeways will be equipped with 350-kw and 50-kw fast chargers to offer drivers range to reach faraway destinations and to keep them occupied while they charge. The 350-kw chargers are seven times faster than today's fastest chargers that can charge cars other than Teslas.
Other malls that are farther off the highway will offer 150-kw fast charging as well as two Level 2 chargers for drivers who need a hit of juice while traveling locally.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony for Electrify America stations at Simon Malls will be held in early June at Gulfport Premium Outlets in Gulfport, Mississippi, along with Mississippi Power, the local utility.
READ THIS: Electrify America switches on the first 350 KW Fast Charging station in Chicopee, Mass.
Electrify America's chargers will deliver fast charging to a growing number of electric cars from automakers other than Tesla, which has its own Supercharger network.
Each charging station will be credit-card operated (as well as working on some network charging plans), and have plugs for both CHAdeMO equipped cars (such as the Mitsubishis, the Kia Soul EV, and the Nissan Leaf) and CCS Combo compatible cars (such as the Chevrolet Bolt and BMW i3.) Teslas can use the Electrify America chargers with a CHAdeMO adapter.
