Electrify America wants to make EV chargers as easy to use as gas pumps

Electrify America has unveiled a redesign of its charging stations designed to make them more consumer friendly. The changes include labels that clearly indicate charging levels, a new “balanced charging” system that delivers the maximum charge possible to each vehicle and clearer payment options. The updates were made following EV driver surveys and are designed to create a more familiar “gas station”-like experience, the company said.

One of the biggest issues with charging stations, they found, is that consumers often don’t know the charging speeds of their own EVs — so the current labeling (CCS and CHAdeMO) may not make sense. To that end, Electrify America will keep the CHAdeMo for low-level (up to 50kW charging), but use new labels above that: Ultra-Fast (up to 150 kW and Hyper-Fast (up to 350kW), not unlike mid-grade and premium gas options.