Dive Brief:
- Electric vehicle charging joint venture Ionna has selected Durham, North Carolina, as its new global headquarters, the company announced in a June 11 press release.
- Ionna also announced three new additions to its executive team, which follows the appointment of CEO Seth Cutler in February.
- Ionna, which obtained regulatory approval to begin operations in February, says its headquarters in Durham is close to the region’s tech talent and will help support its goal of developing and deploying what it calls a “cutting-edge” charging experience for EV drivers in North America.
Dive Insight:
Ionna’s global headquarters in North Carolina will enable it to more quickly ramp up operations, according to the press release. It will include a “Customer Experience Lab”, serving as a central node to seven new satellite labs at each of the founding automakers’ facilities. The lab will play a key role in accelerating deployment of EV charging infrastructure, including interoperability testing and continuous improvement, according to Ionna.
“We are thrilled to call Durham home,” said Cutler. “The area’s established history of research, innovation, and its vibrant growing community, make it the perfect place for Ionna to join, thrive, and pioneer. I’m excited to grow a cross-industry team that will deliver the Ionna vision from our new home base.”
Among the new executive appointments at Ionna are CFO Derek Rush, CPO Ricardo Stamatti and COO Shankar Muthukumar. Rush previously served as CFO of BP Pulse. He will oversee Ionna’s financial operations and strategy.
"Joining Ionna is a unique opportunity to contribute to a new company while also helping the industry move forward,” said Rush.
Stamatti previously served as global senior vice president of Stellantis Energy. In his role as CPO, he will oversee the company’s product development and commercialization efforts.
Muthukumar previously served as general manager of Mortenson's e-mobility division. As Ionna’s new COO, Shankar will manage the expansion of the company’s EV charging network, ensuring that it is reliable and scalable to meet its vision of improving the charging experience for EV drivers.
Ionna also said it hired other top professionals from different industries and will continue growing the team to help meet its growth targets.
Cutler previously served as president and COO of EV Connect and chief engineer of Electrify America, Volkswagen’s EV charging business.
Ionna was formed in July 2023 as a joint venture between seven automakers: BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. The company aims to build out a large EV charging network in North America to address a lack of convenient charging options, which is considered to be one of the barriers to more widespread EV adoption.
Ionna plans to install a minimum of 30,000 high-powered EV chargers in strategic locations in North America by 2030 that customers of each respective automaker will have access to. The first U.S. stations are opening this year, followed by Canada.
Ionna’s charging network will be available to drivers of EVs equipped with Tesla’s North American Charging Standard or Combined Charging System ports in order to meet the requirements of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program.
Each charging location will feature multiple high-powered chargers. Ionna also plans to offer plug-and-charge technology, which allows drivers to pay for charging sessions without needing an app or credit card.
The company plans to access public and private funds to accelerate the construction of its charging network.
