In a significant innovation award announcement last week, Electrify America was awarded the Reuters Events 2025 Automotive D.R.I.V.E Honours for Innovation. This recognition celebrates companies driving innovation within the global automotive industry through advances in technology, R&D, manufacturing, supply chain, or partnerships.
Before we go any further here, let us first explain who we are referring to in this piece. Electrify America LLC is the largest open Hyper-Fast charging network in the U.S., and is investing more than $2 billion in Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure and access. The investment enables millions of Americans to charge with confidence and discover the benefits of electric driving on our coast–to–coast network of highway and community chargers.
Electrify America received the award for its battery energy storage system (BESS) deployment, a solution that helps enable Hyper-Fast electric vehicle (EV) charging in areas with limited grid capacity. By storing energy during low usage periods and discharging it during high demand, BESS can help bring Hyper-Fast EV charging to locations where traditional infrastructure alone cannot meet demand.
To date, Electrify America has more than 170 BESS deployments coupled with charging stations, totaling over 65,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy storage deployed. This innovation helps reduce strain on the electrical grid, shorten station deployment timelines, and increase charging accessibility for EV drivers.
“The addition of BESS across our network is a game changer for the EV industry,” said Rob Barrosa, president and CEO of Electrify America. “They’re enabling us to deliver Hyper-Fast charging in locations where existing grid infrastructure alone may not have allowed the addition of EV charging.”
In California, Electrify America’s BESS deployments collectively operate as the largest virtual power plant of their kind, integrating renewable energy and supporting the stability of the state’s electrical grid. This includes Electrify America’s first megawatt (MW)-level BESS in Baker, California, which integrates 1.5 MW of energy storage, solar support, and advanced controls technology to power up to 12 Hyper-Fast chargers where utility capacity and grid limitations would have otherwise made it impossible.
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Electrify America’s Hyper-Fast network currently operates in 47 states and the District of Columbia, supporting increasing ZEV adoption with a network that is convenient, technologically advanced and built for customers.