Mercedes-Benz is finally building some of its promised electric car chargers in the U.S. Here’s what charging in the U.S. looks like right now.
Charging is changing in the U.S. — and quickly. Tesla has all but won the war for the standard charging connector, meaning that charging will likely get a whole lot more convenient in the near future. But on top of that, charging networks are also expanding — with the likes of Mercedes-Benz jumping in on the action.
Earlier this year, Mercedes announced that it would be building charging stations in partnership with MN8 Energy. More recently, it shared that it was finally planning on opening up the first of these stations in October.
The first stations will only be in Atlanta, so don’t plan your road trip just yet. But now seem like an opportune time to step back and take a look at the state of charging in the U.S. How far have we come? And how far do we need to go?What are the major charging networks?
In the U.S., a number of major charging networks make up the majority of the infrastructure. The largest of these is ChargePoint, which offers a huge number of Level 2 chargers, and a much smaller number of DC fast chargers. If you want DC fast charging, then the largest network is the Tesla Supercharger network, with chargers that range up to 250 kilowatts — the fastest charging speed that Teslas can handle. Tesla offers the smoothest charging experience, since Tesla owners who charge at a Tesla charging station don’t need to pay every time — the charger talks to the car, which has your payment info on file.
