I tasted the future of EV charging and it was delicious.

Electrify America’s newest, indoor charging concept reimagines the electric vehicle experience for the better. And I love it.

Earlier this week I drove from Breckenridge back to San Francisco over the course of two days. Earlier this month, I did the same drive but in the other direction. The weather and traffic was variable—as was the quality of the innumerable podcasts I listened to—but there was one constant: I cursed Electrify America the whole way.

To be clear, EA got me where I needed to go. I never once wasn’t able to charge and, while one charger did break the chip on my credit card (note: how this even happened I will never know), I didn’t experience the mass outages or broken chargers EA is infamous for. Even though there were only four fast chargers every 150mi or so — an unnerving fact even if you have the utmost confidence in “the system”—I didn’t have to wait and I didn’t get stranded.

However, I very quickly grew tired of Walmart parking lots, getting soaked in the rain, or parking at the end of a massive parking lot where the chargers were. At one point near Tahoe I got caught in a snowstorm. Other times while charging I sat in my Rivian R1T to do work, hotspotting off my phone and propping my laptop up on my center console. I would have much preferred a table.

Simply put, charging kinda sucks — even when it’s fast and you get where you’re going.

But almost as if God him/her/theirself had seen my (extremely first world) pain and suffering, I got an email from EA letting me know that, through divine intervention, charging could be better. And it was opening the next day.

Here’s what the email said:

We’re thrilled to announce our first flagship charging station in San Francisco is opening on February 9th. Located at 928 Harrison Street in the SoMa (South of Market) neighborhood, it’s the first indoor flagship charging station of its kind from Electrify America.

Here are some of the amenities at this location:

- 20 Hyper-fast chargers capable of speeds up to 350 kW

- Two temperature-controlled customer lounge areas

- Complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi

- Two restrooms with baby changing stations

- 24/7 on-site security

Relax and recharge at our Harrison Street location, where high speeds and comfort meet.

I am writing this article from this center at this very moment and I must say… it feels like the future. I want to describe to you what luxury charging feels like and why I think this is the greatest thing to ever happen to me.

What I saw

The building itself is clean, simple, and absolutely looks like it belongs where it is: Soma. That’s a not necessarily a dig. It’s positioned next to the highway, surrounded by autoshops and gas stations. In a way, its location by virtue of contrast makes this building feel positively utopian by comparison.

Inside I was struck by an inspiring amount of EV diversity. Most chargers only have 2–4 stations, but with 20 350kW chargers in this location you really get to see a nice selection of neat, interesting vehicles. This was a distinct joy and privilege to an EV nerd like myself.

As a human being who breathes air, it was really nice to be inside of a space with this many cars and not have fumes, oil, or soot.

I live in San Francisco because I want to live the future first. While an indoor charging space isn’t as radical as being driven around by a Waymo, the space excited me. There aren’t many places where you can be surrounded by so many different makes and models of forward-looking vehicles. The absence of fossil fuels and quiet, electrical hum of the chargers really did feel futuristic.

There’s a good energy here (pun intended).

At the same time, I also couldn’t shake the feeling that I was, perhaps, standing in what could possibly be, at any moment, the world’s largest and most spectacular electrical explosion. This would, in the best case, give me super powers and, in the worst, char my body to an unrecognizable crisp.

There was no indiciation that this would happen, of course, and I’ve had similar thoughts every time I’ve pumped my own gas. (New Jersey is right by the way; human beings should not be trusted to pump flammable dinosaur blood on their own) But I did feel the need to share that those intrusive exist in my dumb, disaster-glorifying, imaginative brain as I’m surround by many, many kilowatts.

Note: I blame this destructive thinking (pun intended) on being an only child.

There are windows on the second level of the center which allow you to look into some of the infrastructure. When I was there, I saw a very excited tech man (I know he’s a tech man because of his puffy Patagonia vest worn exclusively by tech men) showing around corporate types (I know this because of their suits) in hard hats.

I’m not sure why the tech guy wasn’t wearing a hard hat. I’m choosing to believe that hard hats being worn by the businessmen were for cosplay reasons and that they’re having the time of their life. Or that their kids asked for a cool photo of dad on the job and this was, obviously, what had to be done.

Okay, final thing I’m going to say about puffy vest man who isn’t wearing a hard hat… I’m concerned for him, if I’m being entirely truthful. He is handedly the tallest person in this situation and I see a very clearly marked ‘Low Clearance’ threshold behind him. I hope he’s okay. (He is. I talked to him later. Keep reading to hear what he had to say.)

Okay, the chargers are neat and cool, but you can see those anywhere —though, again, largely in Walmart parking lots. The really interesting part here is the two lounges that are offered for folks to sit in while they wait for their cars to charge. These are nice, sleek, and comfortable. They’re also heated / air conditioned.

I would describe the quality as akin to a Priority Pass lounge in a nice airport. It’s not exactly a Polaris experience, but it gets the job done.

Yes, there are snacks and beverages from vending machines. No, I wasn’t able to drink the catered coffee which appeared to be there only for employees. This ruined my day until I gave myself a pep talk to remind myself that I was currently standing in the best, most state of the art charging center on planet Earth. (I also didn’t ask if I could have the catered coffee out of pure fear of the shame I would feel if I was denied.)

The lounges also provide free WiFi which was, surprisingly, excellent. I took a meeting from here for work as I charged and didn’t experience any lag.

The WiFi password was difficult and I entered it incorrectly four times.

Given the location in downtown Soma, you’re probably saying something like, “Wow, cool lounge, can’t wait until it gets vandalized and destroyed and everything sucks.” Well, EA thought of that and has security here 24/7.

There is, of course, a weird feeling of class divide here. EVs are expensive and this luxurious charging experience isn’t exactly obtainable for everyone. It doesn’t help that feeling when the center is located where it is. And, while it’s true that there are many options for EVs, it feels a little strange to be here looking out onto Harrison Street — not that such a feeling is unique to this particular spot in San Francisco.

The guard was attentive and nice. I regret not asking him for a better picture, but wanted to document that, yes, there really is security here.

Based on some of the commotion passing by outside, I bet he’s earning that paycheck and EA won’t regret this cost.

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While I was here, I was able to chat to some employees — including the nice man in the puffy vest who I would like to apologize to for commenting on his puffy vest.

(Hi Ben. Sorry Ben. I like your vest and you’re nice.)

He shared with me that larger charging centers like this are important because of the housing density in cities like San Francisco. Most people don’t have the ability to charge at home and that charging in the city can often lead to tense, stressful encounters. If you’ve ever gone to that Safeway near Japantown to charge, you know just how aggro people can get for that sweet, sweet juice. It sucks. So a large center with 20 chargers located next to the interstate with lounges and such? Bliss in comparison.

I think that insight explains why I felt compelled to write a long story about what is essentially a converted auto garage with plugs and a sofa in it. This infrastructure really does feel like it moves the industry forward and improves the worst part of owning an EV — charging—in a meaningful way. It’s a really neat proof of concept and the second happiest I’ve ever been charging. (The first, if you’re wondering, was every time I charged at the Rivian Adventure Network in Truckee for free in their first year of operation.)

This center is a thoughtful contribution that recognizes charging does take time and that you don’t always want to go into Walmart. It doesn’t try to hide that, yeah, sometimes you just gotta wait. Instead it recognizes the opportunity to make that unavoidable experience infinitely better.

This is the happiest I’ve ever been to give EA my money, something that normally fills me with lowkey resentment of my own self. That’s a big, big win if you ask me. More of this, please, if you’re listening and in a position of power (pun intended) to make things like this.

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