IONNA Plans To Unlock Arizona Camping Adventure – CleanTechnica

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A couple days ago, we shared a press release from IONNA where they discussed the next phase of the EV charging network’s growth. During 2024, the company (owned by several automakers) contracted with 100 sites around the United States. Now, the goal is to get steel in the ground and put in over 1,000 charging stalls during 2025.

While every site is important for people visiting or passing through along the interstates, I wanted to highlight one that I know from experience is sorely needed. The location in Willcox, Arizona, shows us that even lesser-known small towns along major highways can have a lot more than meets the eye that might miss the town if it blinks as it drives by.

EV Camping In The Chiricahua Mountains Is Kind Of Tough Right Now

In my journeys, both powered by gasoline and batteries, I’ve been to several really cool places in Arizona’s Chiricahua mountains. On the east side of the roughly north-south range, you can go down from near Lordsburg, New Mexico, cross the state line, and find the cool little town of Portal, Arizona. Continue past the motel and cafe, and you enter Cave Creek Canyon. In some ways, it’s like a miniature version of the Grand Canyona and Sedona, but mixed together. In other ways, you won’t find a more unique environment, as species of plants and animals from Canada to Mexico all tend to find their way into the area.

On the west side of the mountains (which you can reach on a rough forest road or by going around through Willcox), there’s something even cooler: Chiricahua National Monument. On that side, there’s more camping and beautiful scenery stretching from the desert floor to the mountains above. But there are also some really cool rock formations to look at.

Getting There Can Be Challenging, Especially Towing A Camper

For the east side, it’s pretty easy for just about any EV to get a lot of charge before heading onto the backroads. Lordsburg has an Electrify America station, and other stations operated by EVgo and Tesla are supposed to open soon. Even towing, most people would have enough charge to get to Cave Creek Canyon and back with some power to spare for running creature comforts.

But the west side of the mountains is another story. Tesla drivers can use the V2 Supercharger in Willcox, but speeds are a lot slower than at V3 or V3/V4 stations. This will be upgraded soon for V3/V4 speeds and for non-Tesla drivers to use. This means that Tesla drivers are going to suffer some inconvenience for now and everyone else can’t get a charge in Willcox. This is particularly bad if you’re coming from the west, as Willcox is at the top of the Texas Canyon climb coming form Tucson!

IONNA is going to be an important part of changing all of this. The company’s upcoming location in Willcox will add 6 CCS plugs and 4 NACS plugs to the town, on top of whatever AZDOT and Tesla end up putting in. This will be close enough to Chiricahua National Monument and the rest of the Chiricahua Mountains for people to get plenty of charge, even towing a modest travel trailer or heading in for some off-pavement adventure!

Featured image: a view of the rocks and the stars in Cave Creek Canyon. Photo by Jennifer Sensiba.