The shareholders of charging infrastructure provider Ionity are investing a total of 700 million euros in stronger growth. By 2025, Ionity plans to operate around 5500 new fast charging stations in Europe, each with a charging capacity of 350 kW.
Ionity High Power Charger
Ionity
Ionity, the operator of one of the largest networks of so-called High Power Chargers (HPC) in Europe, plans to grow significantly by 2025, expanding the number of its public ultra-fast charging stations from around 1500 at present to 7000. The company and several of its shareholders made the announcement at the same time. Ionity is feeding its charging stations entirely with electricity from renewable energy sources in its 2025 strategy.
The new sites would no longer be located only on highways, but also in metropolitan areas and along busy trunk roads. They would be planned from the outset with an average of 6 to 12 charging stations per site, Ionity says. From about 400 sites currently, the company plans to expand its presence to more than 1000 sites in Europe.
Flagship sites planned as service areas
Individual sites are planned as “oases”; they are to become flagship sites with connected catering facilities. To this end, the company intends to acquire more of its own land and, depending on site conditions, to build and operate its own service areas. Existing locations on highly frequented routes with high capacity utilization are also to be expanded with additional stations. Currently, many Ionity sites have four to six charging points.
Blackrock: first non-car manufacturer among shareholders
Ionity also announced that the world’s largest asset manager Blackrock will become a shareholder in the electric charging station operator. This is the first time a new shareholder that is not a vehicle manufacturer has joined Ionity: Blackrock’s Global Renewable Power Platform. Other shareholders include the BMW Group, Ford Motor Company, Hyundai Motor Group including Kia, Mercedes-Benz AG and the Volkswagen Group with Audi and Porsche. The shareholders have made a total of 700 million euros available for the strategy of growing significantly with Ionity by 2025.