In July last year, Tesla signed charging alliances with BMW, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. Tesla, an American electric car maker, owns about two-thirds of the total high-speed charging stations in the U.S., forming an anti-Tesla line. Tesla has expanded its supercharger network for more than a decade, accounting for 60 percent of the total high-speed charging stations in the U.S.
Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors are expanding their charging alliances with global companies such as BMW. Toyota Motor of Japan, the world’s largest automaker, also announced on Monday that it will invest in Iona with seven other automakers to build a charging network for electric vehicles in North America. The investment amount of Toyota is unknown. The seven companies reportedly agreed to invest at least 1 billion U.S. dollars in the joint venture. With Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, competition between the charging alliance and Tesla is expected to intensify.
IONA is a joint venture established by seven global automakers, including Hyundai Motor, Kia, and BMW, to build an electric vehicle charging network in North America. The charging station built by IONA plans to provide CCS, the existing U.S. standard, and NACS connector, Tesla’s charging standard, for all electric vehicle customers to use. Through this, it aims to install at least 30,000 high-power charging stations in the city and on highways.
JENNIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
