--- title: "EVs ‘Will Never Survive’ If Charging Doesn’t Make Money, Ionna CEO Says" date: "2026-10-01" modified: "2026-10-01" authors: - name: "Joel Feder" job_title: "Director of Content and Product" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/joel-feder.md" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/evs-will-never-survive-if-charging-doesnt-make-money-ionna-ceo-says" categories: - "Car Tech" - "Electric Vehicles" - "News" --- # EVs ‘Will Never Survive’ If Charging Doesn’t Make Money, Ionna CEO Says ![Ionna]() Public infrastructure for [charging an EV in America is a mess](). Executives have all been vocal and up front about it. So much so that seven of the world's largest automakers [formed a joint venture called Ionna]() to tackle the issue and stand up a nationwide charging network. Toyota joined the party a year later to bring the count to eight. But this isn't just about selling EVs, it's an entirely new form of business diversification. During an interview on *[The Drivecast]()* Ionna CEO Seth Cutler said, "This is a for-profit business." That business is EV charging. Listen to the entire conversation starting at the moment Cutler discuses Ionna needing to turn a profit below. "We know the company has to get to financial independence and profitability over time," Cutler said. Currently Ionna exists off an undisclosed amount of money invested into the joint venture by BMW, Mercedes, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Stellantis along with Toyota joining a year later. At some point the faucet will be turned off, and Cutler, who has spent most of his career in the EV charging and energy vertical, knows it. Cutler said, "Infrastructure has to be for-profit or it’ll never survive, and if it never survives, EVs will never survive." The approach to profitability and scale has been multi-pronged including various partnerships with Circle K, Wawa, Sheetz, and Casey's. Beyond partnerships, Cutler said, "Very early on, we said let’s make some bets and plant some seeds for future trees. We’ve bought land at several dozen sites; we’ve built our own amenities where you’ve got buildings that we operate with vending machines, bathrooms, and other technology inside, like Amazon Just Walk Out; we’ve taken a piece of land, have a ground lease, and can come back later to add to it, add a building, or find a co-tenant. These things are all sitting there underground as seeds, but we’ve not focused time on that because it’s easy for an organization to get distracted and not have everybody working on driver quality and charging quality at scale. But we know that in 2027, 2028, or beyond, we’ll start to invest resources in terms of other ways to monetize or provide value to drivers with these things that we’ve developed that are different in the marketplace. But it is definitively not a focus right now." Ionna isn't alone in trying to build out a nationwide network of EV fast chargers to rival Tesla's Supercharger network. [Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe is making similar bets](), though his focus is a bit more spread out than Cutler's. Despite [launching the R2]() and being keenly aware everyone has ants in their pants for [the R3X](), a large focus is being put on [building the Rivian Adventure Network (RAN)](). As of the summer the Rivian Adventure Network was a hair smaller than Ionna's network today, and about 4% of Tesla's Supercharger network. For now, Cutler was up front about the path forward, "My goal is to triple the size of the network this year from where we started at 80 at the beginning of the year. That scale isn’t baked into a lot of what people are seeing because we’re moving so fast right now," he said. *Got a tip? Send us a line at tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Overseeing what you see, read, touch, hear, and interact with from the vast lakes of Minnesota, Joel Feder shapes how The Drive looks and operates as the head of content and product initiatives. On a daily basis, Joel leads the newsroom and editorial staff playing point on both short-term coverage and long-term strategic plans. His mission is to help ensure The Drive shapes the future of automotive media by helping the team execute original reporting, breaking news, and exclusive opportunities. Regarded as an industry insider and recognized by colleagues, fellow journalists, and manufacturers as a point-person and leader in the industry, Joel owns and runs the largest automotive professionals group on Facebook in an effort to serve and help others. Joel serves as a juror for the World Car Awards. In addition, he sits on the Board of Directors for Move Forward MN, a local non-profit that helps at-risk youth with barrier-free mental health and housing services. While you’re reading this he’s either on his computer or iPhone chasing the latest news or drafting a story. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]() [Bluesky]() [Email]()