June 17, 2026
The city of Santa Barbara, California has a new EV fast charging station, courtesy of Volkswagen subsidiary and charging solutions company Make America electric.
Located on the site of a former one Greyhound bus station in downtown Santa Barbara, the charging station has a series of 20 “hyper-fast” chargers, capable of delivering a power of 350 kW. At peak performance, that could provide up to 20 miles of driving range for EVs per minute, provided those EVs accept high-power charging options.
In addition, the charging station includes a 1.9 MW battery energy storage system (BESS). The system represents Electrify America’s largest public BESS deployment to date, according to Rob Barrosa, president and CEO of Electrify America, and will be able to charge itself during periods of high solar generation.
“This large-format station demonstrates the next evolution of charging infrastructure, combining high-power charging with integrated battery energy storage to deliver reliable capacity at scale,” he says. “By integrating advanced storage technology, we can enable hyper-fast charging in locations that are traditionally difficult to serve, while making it easy for customers to integrate charging into their daily routines in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara.”
Improving Golden State infrastructure
Electrify America’s new location is the company’s second in the Santa Barbara charging market, officials say. Additionally, the fast-charging port is one of four large-format stations in California as a whole, as it connects to locations in Santa Monica, San Diego and San Francisco.
The major stations across the state contain 20 or more chargers and are part of Electrify America’s broader strategy. The company says it not only wants to reduce wait times, but also increase charging capacity as demand for EV energy continues to grow.
“As gas prices continue to burden working families, switching to electricity is a matter of savings,” said Senator Monique Limón, president pro tempore of the California Senate. “By expanding our public charging network, we are making it easier for Californians to choose a vehicle that costs significantly less to fuel and maintain. Our legislative goal is simple: make the cleanest choice the easiest and most affordable choice for every driver in the state.”
Once fully operational, the new EV fast charging station will offer a total of 20 chargers with combined charging system connectors (CCS). Later this year, the company will convert some of these connectors to Tesla’s developed North American Charging Standard (NACS) connectors as part of an ongoing company’s pilot program.
“Increasing charging infrastructure is critical to accelerating our nationwide transition to zero-emission vehicles,” said Gregg Hart, member of the California State Assembly for the 37th District, which includes Santa Barbara and nearby San Luis Obispo. “As we help motorists make this switch, we reduce California’s carbon footprint, improve the air quality of our communities and, most importantly, save consumers money at the gas pump. I’m proud to support these efforts.”
Electrify America has pledged to invest more than $2 billion in Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure beginning in June 2026. The company’s fast charging network currently operates in 47 US states, plus Washington, DC
Tags: California, Electrify America, EV, EV chargers, project
