First IONITY station in England works fine, but the location could be better in terms of the surrounding infrastructure.
The IONITY fast charging network expands to more countries in Europe and recently the first was opened in Maidstone, Kent in England with four chargers (of course CCS-only).
Thanks to Andrew Till we can take a look at the station and overall charging process of the Kia Niro EV, including a quick look at confirming and accepting payment of £8 per session (€8 in euro countries).
The e-Niro isn’t a charging speed demon to fully utilize the IONITY chargers – charging from 24% to 80% of SOC took 49 minutes (42.1 kWh), which translates to an average of around 50 kW.
IONITY
From the user’s perspective, the particular charging station is not as well positioned as Ecotricity’s Electric Highway charging station. At the IONITY charger, there is not much nearby.
The good thing about IONITY is that once you set the account (there is an option to pay as a guest), you will be able to easily and quickly authorize and pay all over Europe.
Video Description via Andrew Till on YouTube:
The first IONITY charger in England! My e-Niro gets jiggy with it.
IONITY is a big deal. Arguably the first network in Europe to rival Tesla in terms of speed, availability and reliability. This is the first one in England on the M20 Services in Maidstone, Kent. I try it out and find out how fast the e-Niro will charge on a 350kW charger. Spoiler alert: not very.