EV Charging Provider Electrify America Raises $450 Million, Siemens to Become a Minority Shareholder

author: Eric Walz   

Electrify America plans to construct the largest DC fast charging network in the U.S. that will exceed the size of Tesla's planned Supercharger network.

Virginia-based electric vehicle charging provider Electrify America announced it has raised $450 million in new equity financing at a post money valuation of $2.45 billion.

Industrial manufacturing company Siemens was among the participants in the new funding round, becoming the first-ever outside investor in Electrify America. The investment by Seimens, which is in the "low triple digit millions", was made via its financing arm Siemens Financial Services (SFS).

As part of its investment in Electrify America, Seimens will now hold a seat on the company's board. 

The latest investments will support Electrify America's accelerated growth plans to expand public, home and commercial EV charging offerings. Electrify America's plans to expand to 1,800 charging stations and more than 10,000 ultra-fast chargers in the U.S. and Canada by 2026.

The investment by Seimens also lays the groundwork for future collaboration between Siemens Smart Infrastructure and Electrify America on the technologies and services to support a widespread EV charging network.

"Siemens' expertise in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and technology is a natural complement to Electrify America as we lead the transition to an eMobility transportation system in North America," said Giovanni Palazzo, president and CEO of Electrify America. "We remain committed to our mission to rapidly expand ultra-fast and seamless charging to deliver a positive customer experience for electric vehicle owners both now and in the future."

Electrify America was born out of the Volkswagen dieselgate scandal of 2015, where the automaker admitted to tampering with software to mask higher than permitted emissions from its diesel engine vehicles sold in the U.S.

As part of the retribution for its admission of guilt in the dieselgate scandal, Volkswagen founded Electrify America in 2017 as a catalyst to promote the adoption of zero-emissions, electric vehicles in the U.S. Volkswagen committed to a $2 billion investment in Electrify America over a ten year period beginning in 2017.

As part of the latest $450 million investment, Volkswagen is increasing its capital investment in Electrify America beyond its original commitment of $2 billion. Volkswagen noted Electrify America's significant momentum, accelerated growth, and long-term value of its ultra-fast charging network for increasing its investment in the company.

 "With our recent investment, we confirm our commitment to keep growing in the Charging and Energy business," said Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen Group Board of Management member for Technology and CEO of Volkswagen Group Components. "We are supporting eMobility in North America to more than double Electrify America's charging infrastructure to 1,800 sites and 10,000 ultra-fast chargers by 2026. 

Schmall added that Siemens will become a significant strategic technology and electrification partner going forward.

Electrify America plans to construct the largest DC fast charging network in the U.S. that will even exceed the size of Tesla's planned Supercharger network. The company is focused on building a "future proof" network consisting almost exclusively of newer ultra-fast chargers, which is set to become the industry standard. 

Many new EVs on the market are capable of reaching an 80% charge in under 30 minutes using a DC fast charger. These DC fast chargers offer electrical power up to 350 kilowatts (kW) for rapid charging.

The investment in Electrify America is the second major investment for Siemens this month in EV charging. In early June, Seimens made a $25 million strategic investment for a minority stake in WiTricity, a wireless EV charging technology developer. As part of the investment, the two companies will work together to develop interoperable standards for the rollout of wireless EV charging infrastructure.

Watertown, Massachusetts-based WiTricity has been awarded 1,200 patents in the wireless charging field. The company is working with automakers and their suppliers to bring EV wireless charging technology to the market, which is expected to grow to US$2 billion by 2028 in Europe and North America.

In March, Electrify America unveiled a new design for its future EV charging sites, which includes improvements to offer a more customer-focused, hands-on charging experience. The company says the redesigned charging locations will exceed customer expectations as more drivers transition to electric mobility. 

Electrify America describes the newly designed charging sites as "The Charging Station of the Future, Today". 

The locations will feature updated design and comfort elements, such as solar canopies and awnings, comfortable customer waiting areas and other customer-focused services at select locations.

Electrify America is also expanding the deployment of onsite battery energy storage systems (BESS) to more than 150 EV charging stations. The energy storage systems are designed to help manage the energy load to the grid and capture excess solar energy when possible. 

Electrify America is also partnering with automakers to offer their customers free charging, including Ford Motor Co, Polestar, Lucid Motors, Kia, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Fisker Inc.

Eric Walz

Originally hailing from New Jersey, Eric is a automotive & technology reporter covering the high-tech industry here in Silicon Valley. He has over 15 years of automotive experience and a bachelors degree in computer science. These skills, combined with technical writing and news reporting, allows him to fully understand and identify new and innovative technologies in the auto industry and beyond. He has worked at Uber on self-driving cars and as a technical writer, helping people to understand and work with technology.