IONITY operates as HPC charging network available for all electric vehicles across 24 countries in Europe.[1] It is a joint venture of the car manufacturers BMW Group, Ford Motor Company, Hyundai Motor Group, Mercedes-Benz AG, and Volkswagen Group with Audi and Porsche, along with BlackRock's Climate Infrastructure Platform as a financial investor. The company's headquarters is in Munich, Germany, with additional offices in Dortmund and outside Norway's capital Oslo. IONITY enables roaming from electric mobility service providers (EMSPs) and offers the Plug & Charge technology for selected vehicles, alongside convenient payment options and subscription offers.[2]
Charging stations have from 2 to 24 CCS plugs each, with 6.44 plugs per station on average as of December 2024.[8]
Charging stations have slightly different design, depending on country and manufacturer.
Most stations (in 2019) were produced by Tritium and ABB, and some by Porsche itself.[8]
Roaming EMSP partners include the current member automotive brands, and a range of other mobility providers (Greenflux,[9] Paua,[10] Izivia[11])
The charging stations have been designed to support at least 350 kW at 800 Volt output.[12] The ABB HP charging stations have a liquid-cooled cable for 500 A (not on the Chademo port), at 400 V it allows for a maximum of 375 A (for 150 kW).[13] The Tritium Veefil PK350 charging stations have a liquid-cooled cable for 500 A, at a maximum of 950 V it allows for a maximum of 355 kW.[14] The Axon Easy 400 charging stations have a liquid-cooled cable for 500 A, at a maximum of 1000 V it allows for a maximum of 400 kW.[15] The Alpitronic Hypercharger HYC400 have a liquid-cooled cable for 500 A (and a 600 A boost), at a maximum of 1000 V it allows for a maximum of 400 kW.[16]
All charging locations have a grid connection that allows to supply all charging points with the maximum power even when fully used.[17] This requires the regular installation of a substation at each location.[18]
Ionity rollout table: number of open stations per country per quarter.[20][21]
2024_Q2
2021_Q1
2020_Q4
2020_Q3
2020_Q2
2020_Q1
2019_Q4
2019_Q3
2019_Q2
2019_Q1
2018_Q4
2018_Q3
2018_Q2
Germany
138
100
99
90
88
79
69
53
39
26
21
2
2
France
159
75
72
55
46
44
43
26
17
10
5
2
Austria
23
16
16
16
16
16
16
13
11
9
7
2
Norway
40
21
18
18
15
14
13
12
12
6
4
Sweden
39
22
21
20
18
16
14
10
7
3
1
Switzerland
12
10
10
10
9
9
9
8
8
8
6
3
1
Belgium
13
9
9
9
7
7
7
7
5
3
Denmark
10
7
7
6
6
6
6
5
5
5
1
1
Netherlands
17
11
10
10
10
9
9
5
2
United Kingdom
29
13
13
11
7
4
3
3
2
Ireland
6
6
6
6
4
4
4
3
1
Italy
36
17
17
12
5
4
2
2
1
1
Hungary
6
5
5
4
4
4
3
2
1
Slovenia
8
5
5
3
2
2
1
1
1
Finland
18
3
3
3
3
3
3
Spain
37
9
8
5
4
2
1
Czech Republic
6
4
2
2
1
1
1
Croatia
5
1
1
1
1
1
Slovakia
2
1
1
1
Lithuania
3
2
2
1
Estonia
2
Latvia
1
Poland
14
Portugal
11
Total
635
336
325
282
248
224
202
150
112
71
45
10
3
2017
The company claimed that a total of 20 stations would open to the public, located on major roads in multiple European countries through partnerships with Tank & Rast, Circle K and OMV.[1] By the end of 2017, no stations were open to the public.
Ionity bid for Europ-e[22][23] funding from the European Union and was awarded £39.1m to help develop its network, across 13 EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, UK.
By August 2018, 7 stations were open: 1 in Germany, 1 in Austria, 2 in France, 2 in Switzerland, and 1 in Denmark, with 4-6 chargers on each. 4 more stations are marked as coming soon.[25]
By October 2018, 10 stations with 4-6 CCS charger plugs were open, 20 stations are marked as "now building". Charging cost for the rest of 2018 was established as 8 (€8, or £8, or 8CHF depending on country) per charging session (no power or time restrictions). In Scandinavia the session fee will be 80 NOK / SEK / DKK. The European Union countries currently remaining without published plans for Ionity chargers include: Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and the UK.[26]
By the end of 2018, 47 stations on map are marked open and 45 as now building.[27]
2019
The 100th charging station was open to public in Rygge, Norway on 27 May 2019.[28] On 20 December 2019 200th charging station was completed.[29]
2020
In 2017, Ionity planned to have "implemented and operate about 400 fast charging stations across European major thoroughfares in 2020".[1]
In January 2020, Ionity announced that customers with no contract would be charged 0.79 euros per kWh.[30] The network was criticized for the 500% rate increase for those drivers without a subscription plan.[31] German automakers shared discounted rates for Connected Mobility Service Providers network participants.[32] For example, Mercedes-Benz announced a reduced Ionity charging price of 0.29 euros per charged kilowatt hour for Mercedes' me Charge users.[33]
2021
Operating 336 charging stations with just over 1000 stalls at the end of Q1 2021, the network competes with Tesla supercharger's network with 6000 stalls and 600 stations in Europe at the same time. In August 2021, Volkswagen's CEO Herbert Diess, one of the main partners through Porsche, criticizes Ionity Charging Experience on LinkedIn, pointing that the service is simply not good enough with lack of stations, stalls, toilets, and refreshments, and with charging points out of service. "simply not premium".[34]
At the end of 2021 the network operated 401 charging stations with 1690 charging points.[35]
2022
At the end of 2022 the network operated 453 charging stations with 2068 charging points.[35]
2023
At the end of 2023 the network operated 594 charging stations with 3306 charging points.[35]
2024
The network operated 684 charging stations with 4359 charging points in 24 European countries by October 2024.[35]
The goal is to have 1000 charging stations with 9000 charging points by 2027.[35]
May 13th Jeroen van Tilburg has taken over the role as CEO. He replaced Michael Hajesch pursuing other ventures outside the company.[36]
IONITY has been awarded as the most efficient HPC network in the elvah Comprehensive Charging Market Report for Germany, I.2024 with charging stations located every 120 kilometers across Europe.[37]
The charging provider is recognized by Auto Bild and eMobility Excellence as the CPO with the highest charging point quality.[38]
The company has reached the first place among all tested fast charging providers in 2024 in a Report by Auto Club Europa.[39]
^"High Power Schnellladestation". ABB. 2024-02-15. Retrieved 2024-03-03. Kapazität zum Laden von 400V und 800V Fahrzeugen/ Mit einem Ausgang von 375A .. ein 400V-Fahrzeug mit .. 150kW kontinuierlich laden/ Unterstützt CCS (500A flüssigkeitsgekühlte Kabel), CHAdeMO (200A) und GB (500A) Ladestandard/ Modulares System: 175 - 500kW
