San Francisco Just Got a Game-Changing EV Charging Station

As auto buyers consider moving from internal-combustion vehicles to their electric counterparts, there will be a few hurdles to overcome along the way. One of those is the nature of charging while on the go — not just finding a charging station, but having a good experience while charging your vehicle. Even when using a fast charger, the experience is likely to be shorter than refilling a gas tank — which begs the question of what a driver will do as their vehicle’s battery recharges.

EV drivers in San Francisco have a new option to choose from as of this month. Electrify America recently opened its flagship charging station in the city’s South Market neighborhood. The space asks a bold yet pragmatic question: what if there was a lounge where you could relax while your car was charged? The space includes 20 high-speed charging stations, a climate-controlled waiting area, vending machines and wifi.

The charging station is also available 24 hours a day. It might not be quite as opulent as the charging station concept that Audi unveiled a few years ago, but it does have the distinct advantage of being an actual physical space that drivers can use.

“Our expertise in building over 250 stations in California and more than 900 in North America uniquely positions us to bring high-quality charging infrastructure directly into communities where people live and work and support EV adoption across the state,” said Electrify America CEO Robert Barasso in a statement.

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As the Associated Press pointed out (via Autoblog), this is part of an industry-wide effort to make charging stations more inviting and usable, and fits in alongside efforts from Mercedes-Benz and Tesla. Electrify America’s new type of charging station feels like a step in the right direction — though the question remains as to whether it can be replicated elsewhere.