About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges and strategies of making public EV chargers as reliable as gas stations, featuring insights from IONNA's CEO Seth Cutler.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe As the U.S. EV market slows and federal charging support recedes, IONNA, a fast-charging network backed by eight major automakers, is still expanding. On Volts, CEO Seth Cutler makes the case that public charging is entering a new phase focused on reliability and customer experience, but the economics remain difficult, with low utilization and demand charges squeezing margins. With roughly 1,300 bays live and a target of 30,000, IONNA is testing whether a multi-brand network can offer a Tesla-like charging experience while building a sustainable business. Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction: can public EV charging be as reliable as a gas station? 02:30 – Public charging’s four phases, and IONNA’s phase-four bet 08:17 – IONNA’s origin story 09:55 – Scale, footprint & site strategy 11:52 – Rechargery @ vs. freestanding: the two site formats 18:45 – Can DC fast charging make money? Unit economics 21:29 – Demand charges & why fast charging is expensive 23:57 – Getting power: permitting, interconnection & utilities 29:18 – Site design, amenities &…

People in this episode

Host: David Roberts

Guest: Seth Cutler

Topics covered

• public EV charging
• reliability
• customer experience
• business model
• fast-charging network

Keywords

• EV chargers
• IONNA
• fast-charging
• reliability
• customer experience
• business model
• demand charges

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: IONNA, Tesla, IONITY

Places: U.S.

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