How Mercedes Wants To Make EV Fast Charging Work Like It Should

Does Mercedes-Benz have the right recipe for the fast-charging experience you actually want? Plus, Hyundai's EV plant and Rivian's Also.

By: Patrick George

Mar 28, at 8:22am ET

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Even in a year marked with all kinds of uncertainty, the American electric vehicle market continues to grow rapidly. But what's holding that growth back isn't necessarily the cars themselves—it's the charging.

So much of the electric world is about infrastructure, from making sure customers have good home charging options to giving them ways to easily handle road trips and off-the-beaten-path errands with quality public DC fast charging. The first one is generally seamless and great; the second one can be a real crapshoot.

Enter Mercedes-Benz, which is taking some of the boldest steps among traditional automakers to ensure that DC public fast charging doesn't just magically get better on its own. On this week's episode of the Plugged-In Podcast, my co-host Tim Levin and I are thrilled to chat with Andrew Cornelia, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging.

We've covered this division of Mercedes here quite a bit. It's working to establish a vast network of seamless, high-quality public charging stations across the U.S. with amenities like restrooms, snacks and 400-kilowatt chargers that actually work every time.

Cornelia knows his stuff; he worked at Tesla's charging operation for almost five years, and his operation seeks to ensure that the rest of us can eventually enjoy just as good an experience. Mercedes' network of fast-charging stations is open to all EVs, not just ones from the Silver Arrow brand, although those owners do get special perks and preferential treatment.

Tune in to hear Cornelia's ideas about how to make charging better, plus what he really thinks of BYD's new five-minute fast-charging breakthrough.

Also on today's podcast, we talk about Rivian's new Also micro-mobility brand. I'll also brief you on my impressions of Hyundai's wild new Savannah, Georgia Metaplant that's home to the American-made Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9. Oh, and tariffs? It wouldn't be the Plugged-In Podcast if that didn't come up.

Our podcast is available on the InsideEVs YouTube channel later today, plus all major audio platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart Radio. New episodes drop every Friday.

If you haven't already, please go subscribe and leave us a review. Thanks for tuning in!

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com