VML, in Partnership with IONNA, Design New EV Charging Stations with A Retro Appeal

IONNA is a new brand and joint venture between eight of the world's leading automakers seeking to level-up the electric vehicle charging experience in North America. In partnership with VML, the brand launch of IONNA takes a novel approach, using nostalgic design elements that were drawn from America’s automotive past and retro service station brands. Nostalgic elements imbue comfort and familiarity and inject a sense of joy and charm lacking in the EV charging category today.

VML won a competitive pitch to launch a charging network to build a better future.

We wanted to launch IONNA - a charging network - that looks to the past experience of service stations that made us smile and earned our trust by wrapping the experience in warmth, hospitality, and thoughtful design and craft a brand identity with familiar comfort and timeless optimism.

Robb Smigielski

Chief Design Officer and Executive Lead of Brand Design, VML

The eight automakers behind IONNA include BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz Group, Stellantis, and Toyota. IONNA was designed to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles in North America, by making EV charging more convenient, accessible and reliable.

The identity focuses on customer comfort and charging ease. The EV stations are in convenient locations offering canopies wherever possible and amenities such as restrooms, food service and retail operations either nearby or within the same complex. A select number of flagship stations will be equipped with additional amenities, delivering a premier experience designed to showcase the future of charging.

North America is at the cusp of an electric revolution. IONNA is here to tip the scales and finally make it possible, but we also believe is not just what you do, it’s how you do it. So, we are also making it fun. In a world where all charging brands skew to either techno-cold or parking-lot-boring, designed for machines instead of the people who drive them, IONNA was created to reintroduce comfort and familiarity back into the open road. To build a modern service station where we’d check your oil, for free, with a welcoming smile... If EVs had oil.

Ricardo Stamatti

Chief Product Officer at IONNA

Initial plans call for the deployment of charging stations, or ‘Rechargeries,’ in metropolitan areas and along major highways, including connecting corridors and vacation routes, aiming to offer reliable charging wherever people may choose to live, work and travel.

The first charging locations opened in late 2024 with plans to drastically scale in their first year, as well as expand into Canada at a later date. Each site will be equipped with multiple high-powered DC chargers, making long-distance journeys easier for customers.

Recharging North America

VML partnered with eight top automakers to launch IONNA, a nostalgic EV charging network that blends retro charm with modern convenience, redefining the electric vehicle experience in North America.

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