Sneak peek at Rove’s first ‘full-service’ EV charger, opening Oct 15
Rove, a new developer of full-service charging stations, has finished construction of its first charging station in Santa Ana, California, and invited us for a sneak peek ahead of its opening this month. The station includes 40 charging spots, a grocery store, indoor and outdoor seating, a car wash, and even a small dog park.
We first heard about Rove several years ago, and attended its groundbreaking for this site last year. The company plans several other sites around Southern California, but Santa Ana is the first to open.
Now, almost exactly a year later, the station is ready to open up to the public, offering a “full service” experience unlike any other charger we’ve seen yet.
The station aims to give EV drivers access to the types of services that might be useful on a longer charging stop, rather than just giving people access to chargers and letting them fend for themselves otherwise.
So, to start with, the site includes 40 charging points, with every format you might want to DC charge with. There are 28 V4 Tesla Superchargers (one of the first third-party Tesla Superchargers to open) which will soon be added to Tesla’s in-car navigation, each of which is equipped with a Magic Dock. In addition, there are 12 CCS chargers – 2 350kW chargers, and 10 184kW chargers (each with its own power, no shared power). The site even includes two CHAdeMO chargers!
Rove has maintained flexibility on these chargers too, and may install different heads on the charging cables as the market evolves. Each 184kW charger has two heads already, for different sides of the vehicle, but these could be replaced by 1 NACS and 1 CCS in the future.
These chargers are partially fueled by a large, 222kW solar canopy which provides shade for vehicles and power to offset vehicle charging or to charge the 4MWh of on-site battery storage. Battery storage helps to reduce peaks in demand and balance out loads and pricing – though this isn’t a particularly cheap charging stop, at 58 cents per kWh, which can be paid for through the Rove app or tapping your credit card.
But beside all these chargers there’s a large building, with the centerpiece being a small Gelson’s market. Gelson’s is a Southern California grocery store chain that mostly focuses on “upscale” locations and high quality – with prices that come along with.
So the store includes fresh fare like freshly-cut fruit, sandwiches, baked goods and even sushi, and definitely feels like a nicer experience than your typical gas station convenience store.
Gelson’s is calling the concept “ReCharge by Gelson’s,” and it’s the first store of this type the company has opened. They plan to partner at Rove’s future locations as well.
Beside the Gelson’s, Rove has included a lounge with tables and free wifi, for those who’d like to use their charging time to check up on emails or something of the sort. There’s outdoor and indoor seating available, and the site will have 24/7 security and clean bathrooms.
This particular site also has a car wash and fenced area for dogs. Rove will have different features for each site – for example, a future site in Corona will have larger parking spots for bigger vehicle. So we won’t necessarily see car washes and dog parks at every site site, but this one got the whole shebang.
And as for those things that you never get a chance to do in your EV since you never go to gas stations anymore, the site also has a complimentary vacuum, air, and windshield washer station.
The new location is just off the 5 freeway in Santa Ana, at 1008 E 17th Street. It officially opens on October 15th, though will have some soft-launch events over the course of the next couple weeks.
Rove is planning to expand elsewhere in Southern California next, with sites planned in Costa Mesa, Torrance, Corona and Long Beach, which should be opening roughly in that order. The company would like to expand outside of Southern California in the future, but that’s a long way away.
Electrek’s Take
We love to see concepts like these. There’s a lot of talk about EV charging being difficult, but for those of us who have taken EVs on roadtrips, it’s often a pleasant experience anyway. As long as there are clean chargers with something to do nearby, you really don’t feel restricted by the time you spend charging.
For example, I went on a 2,200 mile roadtrip with no prep, and never felt like I had to wait on my car to charge. This is because I stopped at some excellent charging stops (shoutout to my favorite charging stop at the Supercharger in Harrisburg, Oregon, run by Olsen Run Winery) which really improved the process.
The thing is, EV charging could be such an opportunity for businesses to offer services to captive customers who are happy to have something to do, and often won’t mind spending a few bucks anyway. There are some businesses who have already learned to take advantage of this, but it’s been a bit of a patchwork so far.
Rove shows how a business could provide all of these services under one roof. And we think this concept would work in a wide variety of areas. Gas stations already have something similar, with Buc-ee’s style travel stops, and people enjoy stopping at those even though they’re not waiting for their car to fill up. So why not offer something similar for EVs, and kill off all the complaints about EV charging being somehow inferior or weird or different?
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Wind energy powered 20% of all electricity consumed in Europe (19% in the EU) in 2024, and the EU has set a goal to grow this share to 34% by 2030 and more than 50% by 2050.
To stay on track, the EU needs to install 30 GW of new wind farms annually, but it only managed 13 GW in 2024 – 11.4 GW onshore and 1.4 GW offshore. This is what’s holding the EU back from achieving its wind growth goals.
Three big problems holding Europe’s wind power back
Europe’s wind power growth is stalling for three key reasons:
Permitting delays. Many governments haven’t implemented the EU’s new permitting rules, making it harder for projects to move forward.
Grid connection bottlenecks. Over 500 GW(!) of potential wind capacity is stuck in grid connection queues.
Slow electrification. Europe’s economy isn’t electrifying fast enough to drive demand for more renewable energy.
Brussels-based trade association WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson summed it up: “The EU must urgently tackle all three problems. More wind means cheaper power, which means increased competitiveness.”
Permitting: Germany sets the standard
Permitting remains a massive roadblock, despite new EU rules aimed at streamlining the process. In fact, the situation worsened in 2024 in many countries. The bright spot? Germany. By embracing the EU’s permitting rules — with measures like binding deadlines and treating wind energy as a public interest priority — Germany approved a record 15 GW of new onshore wind in 2024. That’s seven times more than five years ago.
If other governments follow Germany’s lead, Europe could unlock the full potential of wind energy and bolster energy security.
Grid connections: a growing crisis
Access to the electricity grid is now the biggest obstacle to deploying wind energy. And it’s not just about long queues — Europe’s grid infrastructure isn’t expanding fast enough to keep up with demand. A glaring example is Germany’s 900-megawatt (MW) Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm. The turbines are ready to go, but the grid connection won’t be in place until 2026.
This issue isn’t isolated. Governments need to accelerate grid expansion if they’re serious about meeting renewable energy targets.
Electrification: falling behind
Wind energy’s growth is also tied to how quickly Europe electrifies its economy. Right now, electricity accounts for just 23% of the EU’s total energy consumption. That needs to jump to 61% by 2050 to align with climate goals. However, electrification efforts in key sectors like transportation, heating, and industry are moving too slowly.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has tasked Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen with crafting an Electrification Action Plan. That can’t come soon enough.
More wind farms awarded, but challenges persist
On a positive note, governments across Europe awarded a record 37 GW of new wind capacity (29 GW in the EU) in 2024. But without faster permitting, better grid connections, and increased electrification, these awards won’t translate into the clean energy-producing wind farms Europe desperately needs.
Investments and corporate interest
Investments in wind energy totaled €31 billion in 2024, financing 19 GW of new capacity. While onshore wind investments remained strong at €24 billion, offshore wind funding saw a dip. Final investment decisions for offshore projects remain challenging due to slow permitting and grid delays.
Corporate consumers continue to show strong interest in wind energy. Half of all electricity contracted under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in 2024 was wind. Dedicated wind PPAs were 4 GW out of a total of 12 GW of renewable PPAs.
Read more: Renewables could meet almost half of global electricity demand by 2030 – IEA
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In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the official unveiling of the new Tesla Model Y, Mazda 6e, Aptera solar car production-intent, and more.
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The Chinese EV leader is launching a new flagship electric sedan. BYD’s new Han L EV leaked in China on Friday, revealing a potential Tesla Model S Plaid challenger.
What we know about the BYD Han L EV so far
We knew it was coming soon after BYD teased the Han L on social media a few days ago. Now, we are learning more about what to expect.
BYD’s new electric sedan appeared in China’s latest Ministry of Industry and Information Tech (MIIT) filing, a catalog of new vehicles that will soon be sold.
The filing revealed four versions, including two EV and two PHEV models. The Han L EV will be available in single- and dual-motor configurations. With a peak power of 580 kW (777 hp), the single-motor model packs more power than expected.
BYD’s dual-motor Han L gains an additional 230 kW (308 hp) front-mounted motor. As CnEVPost pointed out, the vehicle’s back has a “2.7S” badge, which suggests a 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) sprint time of just 2.7 seconds.
To put that into perspective, the Tesla Model S Plaid can accelerate from 0 to 100 km in 2.1 seconds. In China, the Model S Plaid starts at RBM 814,900, or over $110,000. Speaking of Tesla, the EV leader just unveiled its highly anticipated Model Y “Juniper” refresh in China on Thursday. It starts at RMB 263,500 ($36,000).
BYD already sells the Han EV in China, starting at around RMB 200,000. However, the single front motor, with a peak power of 180 kW, is much less potent than the “L” model. The Han EV can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.9 seconds.
At 5,050 mm long, 1,960 mm wide, and 1,505 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,970 mm, BYD’s new Han L is roughly the size of the Model Y (4,970 mm long, 1,964 mm wide, 1,445 mm tall, wheelbase of 2,960 mm).
Other than that it will use a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pack from BYD’s FinDreams unit, no other battery specs were revealed. Check back soon for the full rundown.
Source: CnEVPost, China MIIT
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